The Beginning: Part Two
by Dixon8
Summary: It's been nine years since Daryl and Nikki's break up. They are now living in a world of walkers but they aren't the only things to be afraid of. Nikki's boyfriend and his friend may be just as dangerous. Will Daryl be able to save Nikki before it's too late? Will Nikki want him to? Sequel to The Beginning.
1. Chapter 1

_Holy wow! I had a lot of reviews for my last chapter of The Beginning. Thank you so much. I promised you guys that if you reviewed I would post the second part tonight so here it is. If you guys keep reviewing like that, I could potentially write the whole story in a week. LOL._

Daryl raced home and slammed open the door. He grabbed Merle who had just got home from work and dragged him to the truck. Once they were in the truck, Daryl sped off with a very confused Merle.

"What the fuck is goin' on? Where are ya takin' me?" Merle asked, slightly irritated.

Daryl's hands were gripping the wheel so tight, his knuckles were white. "She left. She left. I gotta go get her."

Merle nodded. "Where'd she go?"

"Pennsylvania." Daryl said.

"Pennsylvania? Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me? Oh, ya musta fucked up bad baby brother. Ya made your girl moved outta the state." Merle teased.

"Shut up Merle!" Daryl yelled. He knew he screwed up. He didn't need reminded of that.

The rest of the drive was fairly quiet, except of course the occasional comment from Merle. Daryl didn't want to talk though, he was trying to figure out what he was going to say to Nikki when he found her. Merle had fallen asleep about half way to Pennsylvania. When Daryl pulled into Thiel College's parking lot, he shook Merle to wake him up.

"Merle, get your lazy ass up. We're here." Daryl said getting out of the truck.

As they walked to the main building, Daryl's stomach was in knots and his heart was slamming in his chest. What if she didn't want him now? Maybe he screwed up too bad to fix things. He tried not to think too much as he walked up to a staff member named Judy.

"Where's Nicole Gamble?" Daryl almost demanded.

The older lady just looked at him through the top of her glasses for a moment before answering. "Who are you?"

"Don' matter who I am, I need to know where Nicole Gamble is." Daryl said a little louder this time. He didn't mean to be snappy but he couldn't help it.

"Well, I'm sorry sir but I cannot just give out student information to you. If you know her, you can get her information from her. You're other option is for me to take your information and give it to her. What she does with it is her decision." She responded.

"I don' need ya to take my information. I need to know where Nicole Gamble is." Daryl started yelling.

At this point, Merle had wrote down Daryl's name and number for Nikki and handed it to Judy before dragging Daryl out of the building.

Daryl waited for Nikki to call him but she never did. He called her a few times a month for the next year but she never returned his calls. After a year of chasing her, he finally gave up figuring it was over. The next few years were spent drinking and having one night stands mostly. He had a couple of girlfriends after her but nothing serious. He made sure they never lead to anything serious, even if that meant cheating on them or treating them like shit. Overall, he was becoming just like his dad.

Nine Years Later:

Nicole was sitting in an abandoned convenient store with Brian, her boyfriend David, and David's best friend Joe. The four of them have been holed up in the store for three days, trying to avoid the mess of a world waiting for them outside. First thing they did when they got there was pack whatever supplies they could in their backpacks, in case they had to leave in a hurry. The store may seem safe now but they learned very quickly that no place is safe for long.

"Hey Nicole, go get me something to drink." David said to her when he saw Brian leave to go to the bathroom.

Nicole got up and walked over to the cooler that no longer worked and pulled out a Coke. She walked back over to David and handed him his drink. When she sat down next to him, he all but shoved her away.

"I don't want you sitting by me you good for nothing little bitch. Go back and sit by your pig brother." He spat at her.

Nicole got up and moved back over to where Brian was sitting just as he came back into the room. She started thinking about David and Brian and Julia and how much her life has changed in the past nine years.

She has been with David for almost two years but she hardly called it a relationship. It was nothing like the one she had with...no she would not think of him right now. The point was, she didn't love David and didn't want to be with him but she didn't feel that she had much of a choice. If you ever saw the two of them out, you would never guess they were together. There was no holding hands, no kissing, nothing that said there was any form of a relationship between the two fo them at all. He treated her like she was his bitch and sadly she let him. He took advantage of her and she knew it. Hell, she had even caught him cheating on her once and told him she was going to leave. The swollen cheek, bruised ribs, and cigarette burn on her shoulder; however, changed her mind. She never talked about leaving him again, he never gave her the chance. He reminded every day what would happen if she did leave but she wasn't sure it could be much worse than what was happening with her staying.

Joe walked on David hitting her one time and she hoped he was going to help her. Boy was she wrong. Apparently Joe thought all women were below men and needed to be taught how to listen to her man, no matter what the cost. Things only got worse when Joe entered the picture as he talked David into "sharing". For three months before the world ended, Joe would pay David to have sex with Nicole whenever he wanted, if you could call it that. At first she would fight him but David would just hold her down while Joe went to work. After a few times of putting up with Joe and David, she learned to just block it out. She blocked everything out.

She would have normally gone to Brian with something like this but he wasn't himself anymore, not since Julia and Stacey went missing. He spent a year trying to find who took them with not even as much as a clue. It was consuming him. It was all he thought about, all he talked about. They even put him on leave at work and sent him to a therapist to help him deal but nothing seemed to be helping.

So Nicole just dealt with what was happening on her own the best she could. She never thought that a zombie apocalypse would be her saviour. Since it started, she hasn't been hit or raped once. They haven't had the chance with Brian around all the time. David may have been an asshole but he wasn't stupid. David was afraid of Brian and as long as Brian was around, Nicole was safe.

Nicole was startled when she heard the front door rattling. The four of them all jumped up, weapons ready preparing for what may happen next...and then it did. About 20 walkers burst through the front door and started towards the group.

"There's too many of them, we need to go." Brian yelled picking up his bag.

The rest of the group followed suit and headed for the back door. Nicole stopped when she heard a gun shot from behind her. She turned around to see David holding his hand gun and Brian on the floor, holding his leg.

"No!" Nicole yelled as she started running back to Brian.

David caught her in his arms and threw her over his shoulder with her kicking and screaming. David just tightened his grip on her and David, Joe, and Nicole left the store as the walkers closed in on Brian.


	2. Chapter 2

_So many reviews! I love it. Got a lot of questions about why Nicole is with David and I explained it. Any more questions or things you would like explained, let me know. I will work it into the story. I got a request for a Christmas update so here it is. I hope you guys like it._

**_Please review._**

Nicole, David, and Joe were walking down the street and away from the store. Nicole had tried to go back for Brian but the guys wouldn't let her, threatening to kill her if she did. She followed them, unsure of where they were going or what they were going to do. Without Brian around she knew she was in trouble. She had to get away from them, no matter what it took. She didn't want to go back to the way things were before.

She was thinking, trying to come up with an escape plan when the three of them heard gun shots followed by yelling. They all looked around trying to figure out where it came from.

"There! On the roof." Joe said.

"Alright. Let's go." David said and started walking towards the building.

"Are you crazy?" Nicole asked. "They were just up there shooting and you want to go make friends? How do you know they won't kill us as soon as we get up there?"

David grabbed Nicole by the arm, dragging her along. "They will do nothing compared to what I will if you don't do what I say. Now move!"

They started towards the building quickly, dodging any walkers they could and only killing what they had to. Well, David and Joe killed walkers. Neither of them trusted Nicole with a weapon. As they got closer to the building, it looked damn near impossible to get in. All the walkers were in the front of the building, attempting to get in through the front door. Nicole followed as David led her to a ladder on the side of the building which led to the roof.

"You go first, just in case." David said shoving Nicole towards the ladder.

Nicole climbed up with David and Joe right behind her. As soon as she got to the top, the people on the roof all turned, guns pointed at her. She froze, not sure what she was suppose to do.

"Don't shoot. I'm not one of them." She said to the large black man standing in front of her.

He lowered his weapon and motioned her to come forward. She climbed on the roof with David and Joe following. She looked around at the people, trying to figure out if they were dangerous or not. Her eyes got wide and her mouth dropped open when she saw the man handcuffed to a pipe.

"Oh my God!" Nicole whispered to herself.

He looked like he was going to say something to her but stopped when she shook her head and looked over at David. The group talked about what they were doing and how they were getting off the roof. They explained that two of the group members, Rick and Glenn, went out to get vehicles and would be returning shortly for the rest of them.

"Why is he handcuffed?" Joe asked the large black man, T-Dogg. "Is he dangerous?"

Nicole laughed to herself. Merle Dixon? Dangerous? She may not have seen him in almost 10 years but she hardly doubted he was any more dangerous than he was last time she talked to him.

"Uh, Merle's just got an attitude." T-Dogg whispered to Joe. "I'm sure he could be dangerous if tempted but he is more talk than anything and the occasional fight. What about you guys? You were just wondering around the streets of Atlanta?"

Joe shook his head. "No, we were staying at a store for a while but we got overrun. Nicole lost her brother there."

"And Nicole, she your girl?" T-Dogg asked.

Joe laughed. "No, not mine. She's David's girl."

Merle watch Nicole as she listened to Joe talk and judging by her facial expressions, Joe was lying. Or at least not telling the whole truth. Nicole's head snapped up when she heard everyone saying it was time to go. Everyone started running for the door, everyone except Merle who was still handcuffed. After some yelling by Merle, T-Dogg turned back to Merle to unlock him. On his was over though, tripped and dropped the key down the drain. After apologizing, T-Dogg ran followed by David who yelled at Joe to grab Nicole.

"You heard him Nicole, let's go." Joe said trying to drag her to the door.

"No! You can't leave him here. We have to help him." Nicole yelled as she fought against Joe.

Joe picked her up and started to carry her down. She continued to fight against him, kicking and screaming. She was starting to panic and didn't know what else to do so she bit him in the shoulder. She could taste his blood in her mouth just before he dropped her, slapping her across the face.

"Stupid bitch. You stay here then. I'll just tell David walkers got you. Not like he'll care anyway." Joe said right before running out the door.

Nicole hurried to her feet and closed the door behind him. She barricaded the door with anything she could find knowing at any moment, the walkers would be coming up. She needed time to get Merle free. Running to the drain, she kneeled down and looked in. She could see the key but was quickly losing hope when she couldn't get it out.

"Merle, I can't get the key." Nicole whispered to him.

"Get the toolbox." Merle said pointing to the tools sitting just out of his reach. "There may be somethin' in there. Maybe we can break them."

Nicole grabbed some tools and walked back to Merle. Between the two of them, they were able to break the cuffs off the pipe. As soon as he was free, Merle grabbed Nicole by the arm and they ran for the ladder that Nicole had climbed up on. When they got to ground, they noticed the last of the walkers entering the building.

"Alright, we gotta be fast and be quiet. Who knows how many of them things are still out here. Keep your eyes open." Merle said quietly.

Nicole nodded to him and let him lead her through Atlanta. Once they were almost out of the city, Merle stopped to hotwire a car for the rest of the trip. After they were completely out of the city and on the road to his camp, Merle laughed.

"Been almost 10 years. Never thought I'd see ya again."

Nicole smiled. "Yeah, it's funny how things work out isn't it?"

"Daryl is gonna shit when he sees ya." Merle said.

"Daryl?" Nicole said. She looked out her window, a hundred thoughts running through her mind.

"Yeah, ya 'member Daryl dontcha?" Merle asked making Nicole glare at him. "Yup I figured ya did. How can ya forget the man who's heart ya broke?"

Nicole closed her eyes and shook her head. "Merle, don't start. We both know what really happened."

"Yup. The idiot fucked up. As much as I told him that, all he 'members is ya left and didn' come back." Merle said. He sat for a minute before continuing. "What up with your boyfriend? He seems like a real asshole."

"Joe? He's not my boyfriend. David is my boyfriend, Joe's his friend. He is nothing compared to what David is like."

"Why ya with him if ya don' like him? He lets his friend hit ya and from what I can tell, he treats ya like shit. Nothin' like Daryl did." Merle said.

Nicole nodded. "I know but David is safe."

"Safe? What the fuck does that mean?" Merle asked, slightly irritated by her answer. He has only known David for maybe 20 minutes and already could tell he was like.

"It's just...I know what to expect from David. There are no surprises. I know he isn't going to just walk out on me one day. I don't love him so I know I won't get my heart broken. The things that happen in our relationship is almost worth it to know I won't get hurt again." Nikki laughed. "Until I saw you on the roof. Now things are different."

"Oh yeah, why's that?" Merle asked curiously.

"I haven't really had anyone for the last year. Julia and Stacey went missing a year ago and Brian was so involved in finding them he lost track of everything else. He got fired from the police department. I had to get two jobs to pay bills because he didn't even attempt to look for another job. He almost forgot I even existed. I could have been selling drugs in the house and he probably wouldn't have even noticed. David wasn't always the way he is now. The first year was fine between us. After he started...doing what he did...I just kind of gave up on anything. I figured that was as good as things were going to get. Seeing you on the roof though, it gave me more hope than I have had in a long time."


	3. Chapter 3

_Thank you for all the reviews. It seriously makes me want to update more often. :)_

_Ok. I know Nicole gave a terrible reason for being with David. I talked to someone who was in a relationship somewhat like that and she told me the physical pain was easier to handle than the emotional pain. I don't fully get it myself but that's why Nicole stays. As far as Daryl and why she didn't contact him, I can't tell you that yet. I will add it in the story though when I figure it out._

_**Cassidy:** I hope this was a quick enough update for you :)_

_**Please review.**  
_

As Merle drove down the back road, Nicole could start to see people huddled around. Merle parked the car and turned to Nicole.

"Best ya stay in the car for now. Let me go talk to Daryl first." Merle told her.

Nicole nodded her head at him before he got out of the car and walked towards the group. Nicole cracked her window hoping to hear what was going on. She listened as Daryl yelled at someone about Merle being left in Atlanta. Great. Daryl's already in a pissed off mood. Nicole was sure that seeing her was just going to add fuel to the fire.

Merle walked to the group in time to see Shane holding Daryl in a chokehold while he tried to talk to him.

"Man, let him go." Merle said to Shane.

Shane looked up from Daryl and figured it was safe to let him go since Merle was back. Daryl scrambled back to his feet with Merle pulling him up and away from the group.

"How did ya get here? Rick said they left ya on a roof." Daryl said, shocked that his brother was back.

"Come on baby brother, it's me we're talkin' 'bout here. Gonna take more than some cuffs to slow me down." Merle laughed. He stopped walking and sighed before he continued. "Truth is, I had a little help."

Daryl looked at Merle, slightly confused. "Help. Who the hell would help ya?"

Merle hesitated for a second, trying to figure out how to tell Daryl who was sitting in the car. Merle was nervous, Merle never got nervous about anything. He loved Nicole though. She was like his little sister and he was pissed when she and Daryl broke up. He probably took it just as hard as Daryl did and he wanted them back together. He knew they would get back together if he could just get them to talk to each other...and he would have to kill that prick boyfriend and his friend first.

Merle took a deep breath. "Okay, when I went to Atlanta, I kinda found someone...or they found me I guess."

"Oh yeah, who?" Daryl asked.

Merle didn't say anything else, he just stared at Daryl for a minute before motioning for Nicole to come out of the car. Nicole didn't move though, she was too scared to. She knew this was going to be painful and awkward and she wasn't sure she was ready for it. She pulled her knees to her chest and ducked her head down trying to hide.

"Damn it." Merle said. "Do I gotta do everythin'?"

Merle walked to the car and opened the passenger door. "What the hell are ya doin'? Ain't ya comin' out?"

Nicole looked up from her knees at Daryl. "I don't think I can. I think I need a little more time first. I'll talk to him when I'm ready." Nicole said faking a smile.

Merle nodded. "Darlin', you've had 9 years to get ready for this. You're outta time. Now get your ass outta the car." Merle opened the car door and pulled her out. He laughed at Nicole as she whispered to herself and tried to calm herself down. "Relax girlie. Ain't gonna be that bad."

Daryl was still standing in the same spot that Merle left him at and biting his thumb nail. Nicole wondered when he started doing that. He never bit his nails before. When they approached Daryl, he dropped his hand from his mouth. His face went from shock to what looked like almost happy to hard in a matter of seconds.

"What the fuck is she doin' here?" Daryl snapped at Merle.

"Calm down Daryl." Merle said.

"Don' ya fuckin' tell me to calm down. Ya went to Atlanta to get supplies and ya brought back that stupid bitch." Daryl yelled, pointing a finger at Nicole.

At this time, the group stopped what they were doing to see what Daryl was yelling about but Daryl didn't see to care.

"Daryl, don' call her that. I'm alive because of her. What did ya want me to do? Leave her in Atlanta?" Merle yelled back.

"Yes! Ya shoulda left her in Atlanta." Daryl said.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Nicole said walking back to the car.

"Ya don' mean that. Ya know damn well that if I'd left her ya woulda killed me." Nicole heard Merle tell Daryl before she closed the car door.

Nicole sat in the car and watched Merle and Daryl argue for a little while longer before Daryl grabbed his crossbow and stormed off to the woods. Merle walked to the car and got in.

"Well, that didn' go as good as I hoped." Merle said to Nicole.

"Are you serious Merle? How exactly did you think that was going to go? Did you think we were going to just kiss and make up?" Nicole said angrily.

Merle chuckled. "No, I knew that wasn't gonna happen but I was hopin' that after 9 years Daryl would be more cooled off. "Well Darlin', I guess ya can get out of the car now. Daryl will be in the woods for a while I think so ya should be safe for now. Come on, ya can get something to eat."

Merle got out of the car and walked back to the camp with Nicole not far behind. She couldn't help but notice all of the eyes watching her as she approached the camp, including Rick and Shane's. Nicole smiled when she saw them.

"Oh my gosh! I didn't figure I'd end up running into you two here. It's like a family reunion!" Nicole laughed until she saw Amy. Nicole's eyes narrowed at her as she walked forward.

"Hi Nikki." Amy said.

"Nicole." She corrected still glaring.

"Oh. When did that change? You use to hate being called Nicole." Amy said nicely despite the glare.

"About 9 years ago." Nicole said as she walked by.

"You still hate me don't you? Not that I blame you. Daryl hates me too." Amy told her.

"You have no idea how much I hate you." Nicole whispered harshly at her hoping the others wouldn't hear. Nicole shook her head and shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breath. Getting mad now wasn't going to do anything. Nicole sighed. "Why did you do it?"

Amy looked at Nicole, tears building up in her eyes. "Honestly, I just wanted to hurt Daryl. I was obsessed with hurting him and I don't even know why. I was just stupid I guess."

Nicole nodded. "Well mission accomplished. You did a good job."

"I wish I could take back what I did. I want to make it up to you." Amy said.

"Oh yeah? How you going to do that? I'll tell you what. You fix things with me and Daryl, then we'll talk." Nicole said before walking away.


	4. Chapter 4

_**PoisonLily**_: _Thank you so much! I probably will not follow the TV show. I will have some parts the same probably but will definitely be different._

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I'm so sorry. Meant to post this last night but fell asleep. Trying to post a new chapter every night since you guys are all being so great about reviews!_

_I didn't think when I named Amy. I forgot of Andrea's sister Amy. So Andrea's sister is Amy and mine is Amy W. to keep them straight._

**_Please keep reviewing! Thank you!_**

Rick, David, Joe, and Nicole got introduced to everyone they hadn't already met. David hadn't taken his eyes off Nicole since he saw her talking to Daryl and Merle. She knew David was wondering about Daryl and she knew it would be bad if he found out who he was. If David felt threatened, the three of them would leave the group...or he would try to hurt Daryl like he did Brian.

Once introductions were done, Jacqui and Carol got the four new members some food. Nicole would notice Joe glance up at her every once in a while. He looked like he was pissed off but she wasn't sure if it was because she had gotten away from him in Atlanta or because he got caught lying to David. She could tell David was mad at Joe. He wouldn't even talk to Joe. He acted like he didn't even exist. Nicole would have been relieved to have the two separated, maybe she stood a better chance with them not being together. Unfortunately, David had already filled Joe's spot though. Ed Peletier, Carol's husband, was quick to make friends with David. And why wouldn't he be? They were exactly alike.

Nicole was brought out of her thoughts when two blonde sisters, Andrea and Amy, walked over to her.

"Hey, all us girls are going to the lake to swim and wash up if you want to come with us." Amy said.

"Yeah, I'll go." Nicole said putting her now empty plate with the rest of the dishes.

Nicole smiled to herself as they walked to the lake. She couldn't remember the last time she had a bath, even if it was just in the lake. While they were in the store, they just used wet wipes to wash. As she approached the lake, Nicole noticed some of the girls were already swimming with Joe standing watch. She walked to the lake, ignoring Joe and hoped that there were enough people around for him not to do anything stupid.

Nicole, Andrea, and Amy walked over to sit by Carol who just got out of the lake.

"Hey Carol. How's the water today?" Amy asked taking off her shirt.

"Cold when you first get in but it's great." Carol replied. She looked at Nicole. While everyone else was stripping down to their underwear, Nicole kept her clothes all on. "Are you going to get in with your clothes on?" She asked.

Nicole looked at Carol and gave her a small smile. "Yeah. I'm a little shy so I'll just go in like this and change when I get back to camp."

Carol was right, the water was cold. Nicole wrapped her arms around herself in attempt to warm up until she got use to the water. She turned when she heard someone walking towards her to see Andrea holding up a bottle of shampoo. The only thing better than the lake itself was washing her hair. Nicole always liked the feel of being clean. Best feeling in the world she thought...well almost the best. She shook her head to clear it of Daryl and walked out of the lake to sit back down by Carol.

"So," Carol started, wondering if she should ask Nicole what she wanted to. She played with a stick she found on the ground as she continued. "What's the deal with you and the Dixon's?" She asked, deciding to go with the easier of the two questions first.

"Daryl and I went to high school together." Nicole told her.

"Well I know that can't be the whole story. I know the Dixon's hate everyone but I've never seen them act like that before. Daryl seems to actually be very mad at you for something and Merle acts like your made of gold. What did you hook up with Merle or something?" Andrea asked as she and the rest of the girls sat down.

"Merle? No. I never hooked up with Merle. He's like my brother." Nicole said while the others just stared at her.

"Your brother? Really? How does a nice girl like you end up even being friends with a Dixon? They're just so...eww." Amy said.

Nicole nodded. "Glad to see the Dixon's haven't ruined their reputation." She said shooting Amy W. a nasty look. "And I dated Daryl."

"Why did you break up?" Lori asked. "Brian didn't even know. He just said you two stopped talking and then you left for school. He said you never talked about it."

"I didn't and I still don't." Nicole said quietly, feeling awkward about the conversation. This is a big reason she hates girls. They just feel like they have to know everything.

Amy W. saw Nicole didn't want to talk anymore but the girls kept nagging her. "It's my fault they broke up. I told Daryl she was leaving to go to school and that she planned on breaking up with him. It's my fault they are the way they are now."

After listening to the other girls talk, Carol decided to hold off on her other question until no one else was around. She figured asking Nicole about one relationship was enough for one day.

TWD

A few days later, Nicole couldn't stand the people anymore. She needed a break from them. Not that she didn't like them but having someone constantly up her ass about something was getting to be too much. She made sure no one was paying attention, sneaked past Dale who was on watch on top of the RV, and made her way to the lake.

She sat down by the lake and looked out at the scenery. She could smell the water, hear birds, and feel the wind blowing through her hair. Out here by herself, it felt like a normal day before the world ended. She sighed as she thought about the last time she was at a lake like this. It was when Daryl took her to the cabin for Christmas. She couldn't help but smile at the memory and how different things were back then.

She was brought back to the present when she heard something behind her. She looked back to see Joe walking quickly towards her.

TWD

Daryl was sitting at camp by his tent and away from everyone else. He still hadn't said anything to Nicole and she made no further attempt to talk to him. Not that he blamed her. He probably wouldn't want to talk to him either after what he said. He didn't really want her left in Atlanta but he would never admit that. He couldn't. He was still too pissed off about what happened between them and that she made no attempt to work it out.

Just because they weren't talking though, didn't mean he didn't watch her. He didn't stare at her or make it obvious, he didn't want her to get freaked out. He did make sure she was okay though and not in any danger. He looked up when he saw her come out of the woods. He didn't even know she left. She has always been sneaky though. His face fell when he looked at her. Even though she had pulled her hood up, he could still see the swollen cheek and split lip. He looked around and noticed Joe was missing. He picked up his crossbow and headed to the lake.

When Daryl got to the lake, he saw Joe sitting down rubbing his hand.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl said walking over to Joe.

He pulled Joe up and punched him in the face, breaking his nose and knocking Joe on his ass. Joe tried to hurry away from Daryl but Daryl was quicker. He kicked Joe in the stomach and before Joe could catch his breath kicked him again. Daryl bent down to be eye level with Joe.

"I ever see another mark on her again, I will break every bone in both your hands. Ya got me?" Joe nodded at Daryl before getting up and moving as fast as he could away from Daryl.

Daryl stood up and walked to his crossbow, picking it up and making sure it was ready in case he ran into walkers. He was about to leave when he saw something shiny on the ground. He walked over and picked it up looking at it. His heart race picked up and his breathing became heavier when he looked at the gold chain with a ring on it. Not just any ring, the promise ring he gave Nicole 9 years ago.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you to everyone who is reviewing and adding me to their favorites/following my story. Wow, judging by the reviews, people really seem to hate Joe and David. LOL._

_So I was thinking, since I liked writing the pre-ZA stuff so much and everyone seemed to like reading it, I would like to make most my Daryl stories two part stories like this one. First part pre-ZA and the second part during the ZA. Wouldn't start next story until I'm done with this one so that give you guys some time to think. How should Daryl meet the OC pre-ZA? Give me as many ideas as you like, I will do my best to write them all. :)_

**_Please review._**

Nicole walked to Carol's tent as quietly as she could so no one would see her. Ed was sitting with David, doing nothing like usual, and Sophia, Carol's daughter, was playing with Carl so she knew Carol was alone.

"Carol? Can I talk to you for a minute?" Nicole said through the door.

"Sure, come on in Nicole." Carol said sweetly.

Nicole entered the tent and stopped. Her hood was still up and her face was tucked in the collar of her hoodie as far as it could go.

"I need your help with something but I need you to keep it between us." Nicole said.

Carol stood up, slightly alarmed. "What is it sweetie? You can talk to me about anything and I promise, it goes no further than here."

Nicole nodded and took her hood off to show Carol her face. "I just, I didn't know where else to go. I use to be able to hide it with makeup but I don't have any makeup anymore. Now I don't know what to do." Nicole told Carol as she started to panic.

Carol walked over to Nicole to try to calm her down. "Breathe. It's okay. I have makeup you can use. Sit down, we'll get you cleaned up first then start covering you up."

Nicole sat down on the floor while Carol got some wipes out of her bag. She sat in front of Nicole and looked at her face for a minute before bringing a wipe to her mouth, cleaning off the blood.

"Looks like there isn't much we can do to cover your lip. People may not think too much of that though. It's getting cold out so they may just think it's weather related. We can hide your cheek though. It will probably still show a little bit but shouldn't be too bad." Carol told her as she put the wipe down and went for the makeup.

"Thank you Carol. I didn't think he would do anything with so many people here." Nicole said as Carol put makeup on her.

"Yeah. That's what I thought about Ed at first too. I guess our men hanging out together isn't going so good is it?" Carol asked.

"David didn't do this." Nicole said.

Carol looked up from what she was doing and into Nicole's eyes. "Who did?"

Just as Nicole was about to answer her when she heard Shane's voice coming from outside the tent. Nicole and Carol walked outside to see what was going on.

"Joe! What the hell happened?" Shane asked as Joe walked towards the camp with blood on his face.

"Ran into a walker. He surprised me and I lost my footing and fell. I'm fine." Joe answered, glancing over at Daryl who had just sat down by his tent.

Shane looked at Joe's face. "Well, your nose is broken. Go see Jaqui and see if she can get you fixed up."

One thing about Joe, he was a very bad liar. At least Nicole could always tell when he was lying. The group may not be able to tell though because she was pretty sure he hadn't told a single true thing since he joined the group. She looked over at Daryl when she saw Joe glance at him. Daryl was just sitting by his tent making arrows and completely unconcerned with what was going on. Nicole sighed and shook her head.

"You have got to be kidding me." She said under her breath. "I'll be right back." Nicole told Carol.

She made her way over to Daryl's tent, stopping in front of him. He seemed unaware that she was even standing there and just continued to sharpen the arrow he was working on. Finally, getting irritated, Nicole grabbed the arrow out of his hand and threw it on the ground behind her. He looked up at her, eyes narrowed and jaw working back and forth. She knew that she was pissing him off but she stood her ground. Nicole took a deep breath.

"You can't do that." She said to him.

"Do what?" Daryl asked angrily.

Nicole shook her head. "You..You can't say that I should have got left in Atlanta, not say a single word to me or even look at me since I got here, and then jump my friends."

"Your friends?"

"Yeah. Joe, the guy who's nose you just broke, is my friend." Nicole told him.

Daryl jumped up from where he was sitting and got right in Nicole's face. "Are ya fuckin' kiddin' me? How can ya call that piece of shit your friend? Ya really think a friend would do somethin' like this?" He yelled at her, grabbing her face to look at the now covered bruise.

Nicole slapped his hand away. "It's not your business Daryl and what I do is definitely not your decision. Don't interfere with my personal life." She snapped at him.

Daryl stepped closer to her so they were chest to chest, almost touching. "Ain't always 'bout ya. If he hits ya, he obviously ain't good for the group. If ya wanna continue with your fucked up relationship with those guys, maybe ya should take it somewhere else. Hey, maybe if you're lucky, it won't be the walkers that kill ya."

Nicole's eyes widened and she took a step back. "Wow. At least now I know it isn't just the Dixon name that has everyone hating you."

She turned and walked away from Daryl and back to Carol's tent. When he was sure left, Merle came out of the tent and stood by Daryl.

"Ya have gotta stop sayin' shit like that to her. Ya waited almost 10 years for this girl. Now she is right in front of ya and you're just gonna chase her away again. What are ya gonna do if she actually leaves?" Merle said to Daryl before walking over to the group.

Daryl sat down against a tree and closed his eyes. He hadn't thought about her actually leaving. Sure she had left before but there weren't walkers running around back then. She wouldn't actually leave now would she?

TWD

Daryl didn't try talking to Nicole again. He figured he would give her a few days first, just in case. He did continue to watch her though. He was happy to see that Joe went out of his way to avoid Nicole, especially when he knew Daryl was around. Joe was stupid though so Daryl figured he would try something again at some point. If not with Nicole, with someone else. He would just have to make sure to watch Joe too.

When he saw Nicole sitting by herself reading a book, he got up and made his way over to her. He stood in front of her, unsure of what he should do or what he was even going to say. After a minute, he sat down. Nicole glanced up from her book to see who was sitting in front of her and then went back to reading. Well, she stared at her book anyway.

"You're still here." Daryl said quietly. Nicole didn't respond, she just sat there and stared at the book. "Ya not gonna talk to me now?"

Nicole sighed and closed the book to look at Daryl. "Why should I? So you can tell me how much you wish I wasn't here? No thanks, I'll pass."

Daryl bit his thumb nail. He was tempted to walk away but he didn't think that would help him. "I didn' come over to be mean to ya. I just, I wanted to tell ya that I shouldn' have said that stuff. I was just shocked that ya showed up and I didn' know what to say to ya since I haven' seen ya in so long and..." Daryl stopped talking when he saw Nicole was laughing. "What's so funny?"

Nicole shook her head. "You. You always did ramble when you got nervous. It's fine Daryl. I didn't figure you would be too happy to see me so I'm okay with it. I actually expected things to be worse."

Daryl smiled at her, relieved that he hadn't screwed up too bad this time. "I guess I'll talk to ya later then." Nicole nodded at him before he got up and walked back to his tent.


	6. Chapter 6

_Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who is reviewing and following my story. I really hope you guys like this chapter. Let me know what you think._

**_Please review._**

Everyone was sitting around the fire talking and eating. Nicole was sitting between David and Joe with Andrea sitting on the other side of Joe. Andrea seemed to have taken an interest in him and started to follow him around. Nicole wanted to tell her it wasn't a good idea to get mixed up with him but she wasn't sure she could trust Andrea to keep her mouth shut. Nicole figured she would go tell Joe what was said and piss him off again. That would be just what Nicole needed with half the group going on a supply run tomorrow, including Merle. Daryl was out hunting this morning when it was decided to go to Atlanta and he wasn't back yet which made Nicole worry more. She looked up over Dale's head when she saw Merle motioning for her and he walked over to the woods.

"David, I'll be right back. Bathroom." Nicole told him, putting her plate on the ground and standing up.

David looked up at her. "Are you sure it's a good idea to go to the woods by yourself? I'll go with you."

Nicole put her hand on his shoulder before he stood up. "No. I'll be okay alone. You're not going with me to pee."

David nodded. "Hurry up."

Nicole smiled at him and walked over to the spot she saw Merle enter the woods. She spotted him almost immediately, leaning against a tree and playing with the hunting knife in his hand. Nicole stopped a few feet from Merle, watching the knife closely. Not that she didn't trust Merle, because she did. Once you have a knife pulled on you though, you tend to keep your distance if you can.

"Hey girlie, I got somethin' for ya." Merle said holding out the knife.

"Merle, I don't want it." Nicole told him.

"Didn' ask if ya did. You're takin' it. Look, the knife folds in like this and ya can take the blade back out like this." Merle told her as he showed her, pushing the button on the side of the knife and pulling out the blade. "Best be careful though. Wouldn' wanna cut yourself on this blade."

Nicole just stared at the knife when Merle held it out to her. "Why are you giving me this?"

"Never know when you're gonna need this. I'm leavin' in the mornin' and Daryl ain't back yet. If I heard right, David is goin' with us tomorrow too so that leaves Joe here alone, unsupervised. Who knows what he will try. Need that for protection I think." Merle said pushing the knife onto Nicole. "This blade is 5 inches. That is long enough to kill someone so don' be pullin' it out unless ya mean it. I best not come home to find my baby brother dead over a fight the two of ya had. We clear?"

Nicole laughed quietly and nodded her head. "Yeah, I understand. Thanks Merle."

Merle nodded. "Best get your ass back to the group. Wouldn' want that piece of shit boyfriend of yours to come lookin' for ya."

TWD

The next morning, the people that were staying at camp were saying their goodbyes to those who were leaving. Nicole was standing by David who was paying attention to anything but her. She glanced over at Merle who gave her a quick nod and got in the truck. The rest of the group followed Merle shortly after. Nicole watched as they left and then went to her tent. After grabbing her jacket, she headed down to the lake.

Once at the lake she stopped for a minute to look around. No matter how many times she was at the lake, she could never get over how beautiful it was. Remembering why she came down in the first place, she started walking and looking at the ground.

"It has to be here." Nicole said to herself. She jumped when she heard a voice behind her.

"What the hell are ya doin' down here by yourself?" Daryl asked harshly.

Nicole stood there for a second before answering. "I was just looking for something. Why are you here?"

Daryl brought his thumb to his mouth and started biting the nail. "Saw ya try to sneak past me."

Nicole nodded. "I guess I'm not as sneaky as I use to be huh? I will have to work on that. When did you start doing that?"

"Doin' what?" Daryl asked.

"Biting your nails. You never did that before."

Daryl dropped his hand from his mouth. "Yeah. Guess things are different now ain't they?"

Nicole smiled at him and sat down on the ground. He walked over to sit down next to her and set his crossbow down beside him.

"So, ya don' really think Joe is your friend do ya?" Daryl asked quietly.

Nicole laughed. "Does it bother you that much that I said that?" When she didn't get a response from Daryl she continued. "No, I don't really think Joe is my friend. I mean, he tells everyone he is and David tells everyone I'm his girlfriend but I know better. I'm just not stupid enough to ever go against them. Already done that and would prefer not to try again if I can help it."

Daryl thought for a minute. He didn't know if he really wanted to know the answer but he had to ask. "What exactly did they do?"

Nicole bit her bottom lip and shook her head. She couldn't tell Daryl what they did. She wasn't sure how he would react if he knew. Hell, he beat the shit out of Joe for leaving a bruise on Nicole. Nicole got up, brushing off her pants, and turned to walk back to camp. She stopped though when she saw Joe standing in front of her with a gun. Daryl looked over his shoulder to see why Nicole was just standing there. When he saw Joe, he went for his crossbow.

"Don't even think about it Daryl. You touch that bow, I'll shoot her." Joe told him aiming the gun at Nicole. Daryl stood up slowly, his hands up to show he didn't have any weapons. "Nicole, get over here."

Nicole walked over to stand by Joe who then aimed the gun at Daryl.

"Joe, stop...please." Nicole whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

Joe laughed at her. "Do you know how dangerous this guy is? Ask anyone in the group. They'll tell you the Dixon's are the worst two people here."

Nicole shook her head. "No, no Daryl's not dangerous Joe."

"Are you kidding? Did you see what he did to me?" Joe yelled, not taking his eyes or gun off Daryl. "Now, you are going to leave with me Nicole. The two of us are leaving the group."

Nicole nodded to him. "Okay, let's go. Just don't hurt Daryl." Nicole reached in her pocket and opened the knife Merle gave her.

"Sorry, can't promise you that." Joe said, cocking the gun.

Before anyone could really register was what happening, Nicole pulled the knife out of her pocket and jammed it into Joe's side making him hunch over and cry out in pain. Before Nicole could do anything else, an arrow went through Joe's head. He fell over, blood spilling out of him. So much blood. Nicole hated blood and though she tried, she couldn't hide that anymore. She ran over to the treeline and started puking. Daryl pulled the arrow and knife out of Joe and walked over to Nicole.

"Ya alright?" Daryl asked when she stopped puking.

Nicole shook her head and she started crying. "We killed him...I didn't mean to...He was going to kill you. Merle told me not to use the stupid knife unless I had to."

Daryl held her face, making her look at him. "It's okay. Merle will understand. He'll probably congratulate ya for usin' it. Calm down. It's okay." Daryl said to Nicole who was starting to hyperventilate, pulling her closer to him to try to get her to calm down.

After a few minutes, her breathing started returning to normal and she had stopped crying. He pulled away from her to look at her.

"Ya alright now?" Daryl asked, getting a nod from Nicole. "Good. I got somethin' to ask ya and I need ya to tell me the truth."

Nicole looked at Daryl. "Okay."

Daryl took a deep breath and reached into his pocket and pulled out the chain with her promise ring on it. Her eyes widened when she saw it. "Why do ya still have this?"


	7. Chapter 7

_Thank you everyone who is reviewing and adding me. I know I say that every time I post but I really can't thank you guys enough. I get really excited everytime I see a new review or new add so thank you very much._

**_Please review._**

"Where did you find that?" Nicole asked Daryl who was still holding up the ring. Daryl just stared at her, waiting for an answer. Nicole sighed. "I never got rid of it."

Daryl looked at her for a minute. She was trying to avoid fully answering the question and he knew it. "So what? The world ended and it was on your list of things to pack?"

Nicole looked down at her hands and started picking the dirt out from under her nails. "I didn't pack it."

Daryl squinted his eyes at her. "Wanna tell me how it got here then? It didn' just get here by itself."

"I brought it but I never packed it. I wore it." Nicole said, still looking at her hands.

"Ya wore it?" Daryl asked quietly.

Nicole nodded. "Every day for the past 9 years."

Daryl opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again. He picked up his crossbow and stood up. "Best get back to the group." He said before walking towards the woods.

"What about Joe?" Nicole asked, making Daryl stop and look at her. "Can we just leave him here? What about walkers?"

Daryl glanced down at Joe and then back at Nicole. "I'll come back with Rick or Shane and take care of it."

Nicole nodded at him and stood up. They walked through the woods back to camp, neither one of them saying anything. Daryl wanted to. He had so many things he wanted to say, so many questions. He figured she hated him or moved on so why did she continue to wear the ring? Did she still love him? Does she still now?

When they got back to camp, Nicole walked to her tent while Daryl walked over to talk to Carol and then to Rick and Shane. Nicole saw Carol walking over to her and knew Daryl wanted Carol to keep an eye on her.

"Hey sweetie, Daryl just told me what happened with you two. Are you okay?" Carol said.

"I'm okay." Nicole said. She sat down and put her head in her hands. "David is going to kill me."

Carol sat down in front of Nicole. "David is not going to kill you."

"Yes he is. We killed his friend. David and Joe have been friends since they were kids. He is going to kill me and he is going to kill Daryl, just like he did Brian." Nicole said as she started to cry.

"Who's Brian?" Carol asked.

"My brother. David shot him in the leg and left him for the walkers." Nicole said.

Carol took Nicole's hands and pulled them from her face, making Nicole look at her. "David is not going to kill you or Daryl. Those Dixon boys are tough and both seem to be very protective of you. You will be fine. Trust me."

Nicole smiled at Carol. "Okay. I trust you."

"Good. Come on, lets get you changed and you can go rest until the guys get back."

Carol and Nicole got up and walked into Nicole's tent. Nicole sat down on her sleeping bag while Carol pulled her out a shirt and pants.

"Lay down for a little bit. Try to get some rest." Carol said after Nicole got changed. Carol picked up the dirty clothes and walked out of the tent to leave Nicole alone.

Nicole lay down on her back and stared at the ceiling of her tent. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened at the lake. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her head.

TWD

Carol made sure not to go too far or leave Nicole for too long. Daryl asked her to watch Nicole and that is what she was doing. She sat in on the ground a few feet from Nicole's tent while she sewed some clothes that were getting worn. She set down the pants she was working on and looked at the tent when she heard Nicole talking. When she heard her start crying though, she jumped up and quickly made her way into the tent. Nicole was tossing and turning as she cried. Carol couldn't make out everything Nicole was saying but she definitely heard Daryl's name. Carol sat down next to Nicole.

"Nicole, wake up." Carol said as she shook Nicole. Nicole's eyes snapped open and she looked around, trying to figure out where she was. "It's okay sweetie. You're okay. You're in your tent. You're safe." Carol told her.

Nicole closed her eyes and rubbed her hands over her face. "I'm okay. I'm okay." She told Carol.

"What were you dreaming about sweetie?" Carol asked.

Nicole opened her eyes and sat up. "The lake but it ended different. We didn't kill Joe. Joe shot Daryl." Nicole shook her head. "That didn't really happen though. Why would I dream that?"

Carol shrugged. "I don't know everything about your relationship with Daryl but from what I have heard and what I see, you two were close and after 9 years, you two were brought back together. Maybe you're scared of what could happen...or what hasn't happened yet." Carol patted Nicole's knee. "Come on, lunch should be ready. Let's get something to eat."

Nicole and Carol walked out of the tent to see Rick come out of the woods. Daryl wasn't with him though.

"Hey Rick, where's Daryl?" Nicole asked.

"Hunting. He'll be back before night fall." Rick answered as he got himself a plate.

TWD

As Rick said, right before night fall Daryl came out of the woods with several squirrels. He walked over to Carol and put the squirrels down next to her as they talked. Daryl nodded at Carol and looked back at Nicole who just shook her head at getting talked about. Daryl never went over to talk to Nicole though. He cleaned the squirrels, the girls cooked, and they ate dinner with still no word from Daryl.

After dinner, Daryl disappeared to his tent. Nicole wondered if he was mad that she still had the ring. Getting up from her spot by the fire, she walked to Daryl's tent and walked in.

"What the hell? Don' ya believe in knockin'?" Daryl yelled at her.

Nicole laughed at him. "Oh please. Like I haven't seen you naked before." Nicole laughed harder when she saw him blush. "Good to know some things don't change."

"What do ya want?" Daryl asked.

Nicole stopped laughing and held her hand out. "I want my ring back."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at her and reached into his pocket and pulled it out, handing it to her. She smiled at him and started walking out.

"Ya never called me back." Daryl said.

Nicole stopped and turned around to look at Daryl. "I know. I tried. I can't tell you how many times I had your number pulled up on my phone to call you but I couldn't do it. I wanted to, I really did but I was afraid to."

Daryl sat down. "What does that mean? Ya were afraid to call me?"

Nicole walked over and sat beside Daryl. "We went through a lot, me and you, but no matter what happened, we never walked out on each other. The day we broke up though, it was like you wanted to leave. Like you were looking for a reason to. Every time I was going to call you, all I thought about was you leaving again. I mean, I didn't know if I could restart things with you just to end up getting hurt again. You believed something that someone else told you over me. The other person who's main goal in life was to ruin yours. How could you do that?"

Daryl looked down at the ground, unable to look at Nicole. "I don' know. Guess it was just easier to believe ya were gonna leave."

Nicole shook her head. "How many times did I tell you I wasn't leaving you? I never once during the entire time we were together made any indication that I wanted to leave you."

"I know." Daryl said.

Nicole sighed and looked at Daryl. "I should have called you and I am really sorry that I didn't."

Daryl looked up at Nicole to see her eyes were now shut and a few tears were running down her face. Without thinking, Daryl lifted his hand and wiped a tear with his thumb. Nicole opened her eyes and looked at him.

"I wouldn' have made the same mistake twice. I never woulda walked out on ya again." Daryl told her.

Nicole closed her eyes again when she felt his hand run across her face and into her hair. Daryl had moved closer and she could feel his breath on her. She braced herself for something she had been wanting for almost 10 years. Her stomach was doing flips and her head was spinning when his lips touched hers. She sighed into his mouth at the contact, making him moan. Her hands came up, one resting on his shoulder and the other on the back of his neck. He licked her bottom lip, begging her to let him in.

"Daryl, I'm back. Get your ass out her." They heard Merle say.

Daryl and Nicole pulled apart and looked at each other. Nicole smiled at Daryl and got up to leave. He caught her arm just as she got to the door.

"Ya best stay by me and Merle. I'm willin' to bet David's gonna be pissed." Daryl said. He saw how scared she looked at the mention of David's name. "Don' worry. I ain't gonna let nothin' happen to ya. Just got ya back and he ain't takin' ya away from me."


	8. Chapter 8

_Thank you everyone who reviewed this chapter and added me. It seems a lot of people would like David dead! LOL._

**_Please review._**

Merle walked over to Daryl's tent. "Daryl!" Daryl walked out of the tent, glaring at Merle. "What are ya lookin' at me like that for baby brother? I thought you'd be happy to see me."

"We got a problem." Daryl said before walking back into the tent.

Merle followed him in. "What kinda problem?" He stopped when he saw Nicole and grinned. "Nikki! What's goin' on here? Are ya back together? I knew if ya saw each other..."

"Merle." Daryl said cutting him off. "We got a problem."

Merle looked at Nicole who had her arms around her chest and was looking down at the ground. "What kinda problem?"

"Joe's dead." Daryl told him.

Merle chuckled. "Shit that ain't a problem. One less piece of shit will be good for the world. Ain't no one gonna care that a walker got him."

"It wasn't a walker." Nicole said quietly. Merle looked at Nicole, his eyes wide.

Daryl pulled a knife out of his pocket and handed it to Merle. "Best ya hold onto this for a while Merle. She don' want it back just yet."

Merle looked at Nicole as he took the knife. "Daryl, I need to talk to ya for a minute."

Daryl led Nicole outside and walked her over to where Carol was sitting and talking to some of the other group members.

"Ya stay here with Carol till either me or Merle get ya." Daryl asked. Nicole just stared at Daryl, grinding her teeth. "Don' do that. Ain't good for your teeth."

Daryl turned and walked back to the tent where Daryl was waiting for him. The two of them walked to the woods, weapons in hand just in case the ran into walkers, or if they were lucky, food. Once they felt they were far enough in the woods the group wouldn't hear, Merle snapped at Daryl.

"What the fuck were ya thinkin'? Ya let her kill Joe?" Merle yelled.

"She didn' kill him. She stabbed him in the side. I mean, he woulda died if we woulda just left him. He woulda bled out but I shot him." Daryl said.

Merle paced around for a few minutes, trying to think. He knew there was no way Nicole was taking this well. "How's she doin'?"

Daryl shrugged. "Don' know. I just got back before ya did. Carol said she had her lay down for a bit but she was havin' nightmares so didn' sleep much."

Merle stopped pacing and looked at Daryl. "Of course she's havin' fuckin' nightmares. What did ya expect? That girl ain't meant to kill no one." Merle continued to yell.

"Ain't like we had a choice Merle. We didn' lure Joe out just to kill him. He pulled a gun on us. She did what she had to to save us and so did I. I talked to Rick and Shane. They want David to leave the group first thing in the mornin'. We ain't to say nothin' till tomorrow. We think if we kick him out tonight, he'll just come back when we're sleepin'. Tomorrow we're packin' up and leavin'. We need to make sure she's safe." Daryl said.

TWD

Back at camp, Nicole was sitting beside Carol and talking with the group. Everyone was around the fire except the Dixon's who still weren't back yet. They were listening to Dale talk about how important it was to keep track of time. Amy W. came and sat down on the other side of Nicole.

"How are things going with you and Daryl?" Amy W. whispered. Nicole glanced up at David who was talking to Ed and then turned Amy W. "I know you and David are supposedly together though you don't seem like you like him much. Don't worry, I won't say anything."

Nicole laughed. "I'm not telling you anything about my personal life. You ruined it once and I won't let you do it again." Nicole whispered harshly back.

Amy W. ran her hand through her hair. "I don't know what you want me to do Nikki. I'm trying here. I don't know how many times you want me to tell you I'm sorry. What will it take for you to forgive me?"

"I don't know Amy. I've had a really shitty day and right now, I just want to be left alone." Nicole said. Amy W. nodded and didn't say anything else. She didn't want to push Nicole too far.

Jaqui stood up. "I think I'm heading to bed. Goodnight everyone."

The group said their goodnights to Jaqui as she walked to her tent. She didn't make it all the way to the tent though when they heard her scream. Nicole turned to see two walkers on Jaqui and more coming towards the group. Everyone stood up, women making sure the children got in the RV while the men grabbed their guns. Nicole ran over to grab a gun but David stopped her, taking it from her hands. He ran towards the group, shooting walkers along the way. Nicole really wished she had taken Merle's knife back. At least she would have a weapon.

_Daryl's POV_

_Daryl and Merle were walking back to camp when they heard screaming. At first it was just one woman screaming, then the whole group. They ran through the woods as fast as they could, weapons ready. When they hit the treeline, they saw about 20 walkers give or take a few all over camp. Daryl could see everyone out fighting the walkers. Those who could shoot had guns and others had whatever they could find to kill them. Daryl killed as many walkers as he could as he looked around for Nicole. He couldn't find her anywhere. Walkers were starting to clear out, only a couple still wandering around but he still couldn't find her. He started to panic, his stomach in knots and his heart slamming in his chest. __"Please don't be dead, please don't be dead." He kept thinking._

_End Daryl POV_

Nicole decided since she didn't have anything to defend herself, she should go to the RV. When she turned towards the RV, a walker lunged at her, knocking her backwards. She fought with the walker, trying to keep its teeth away from her. She could tell she was losing to it though, its mouth was only a couple inches from her throat. Just when she thought it was over, walker blood soaked her chest. The dead walker was lifted off Nicole and she saw Amy W. standing beside her, holding a gun.

"Are you okay?" Amy W. asked holding her hand out to Nicole.

Nicole took her hand and let Amy W. help her up. "I'm fine. You saved me. Thank you."

Amy W. nodded and looked behind Nicole to see Daryl making his way very quickly towards her. Once he reached her, he turned her around to look at him and started frantically searching her for bites.

"Daryl, I'm fine. I wasn't bit. I'm okay." Nicole said grabbing his hands. Daryl looked at Nicole's chest. "Walker blood."

After knowing she was okay, Daryl put his hands on Nicole's face and crushed his lips to hers. His hands held her firmly in place while his mouth worked against hers. He slipped his tongue in her mouth and played with hers for a minute. When he pulled away, he couldn't help but smile to himself. Nicole's eyes were still shut, her mouth was open-lips swollen, and she was panting.

Daryl rested his forehead on hers. "Hey, best get ya cleaned up and changed. Don' want that walker blood on ya too long. Then we'll come back out and see what the damage is and help clean up." Nicole nodded and let Daryl lead her back to her tent to change.


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay, sorry took me so long to write this chapter. I had a couple of requests to try to make them longer so took me a little longer._

_Thank you for all the reviews and adds. I hope you like this chapter._

**_Please review._**

Once they got in her tent, Daryl helped Nicole take her bloody shirt off and threw it in the corner of the tent. He looked at Nicole who had blood on her chest where it had soaked through her shirt. Without saying anything, he walked out only to return a couple minutes later with a wet rag. He walked over to Nicole who was still standing in the same spot as when he left. Taking a deep breath, he ran the rag over her chest in attempt to clean the blood.

He had to keep reminding himself that he was only there to help her get cleaned up, not for him. The tightening of his pants though was telling him otherwise. He couldn't help it. He watched the rag as he ran it from one shoulder to the other and moving to her breasts where they were coming out of the top of her bra. He watched the water run between her breasts and down her tight stomach. As much as he told himself it was just for her, he knew it was for him too. God he wanted her.

By the time he was sure all the blood was gone, he was hard as a rock. He needed to leave her tent and quick. He was going to take one last walk in the woods before they left so he could relieve himself.

"Get your shirt on and go talk to Rick or Shane to see what's goin' on." Daryl said, turning away from her.

"Where are you going?" Nicole asked.

Daryl shifted in his spot, still standing with his back to Nicole. "Gotta take care of somethin' before I leave."

Nicole smiled. She knew what he had to take take of, she saw it. "Okay. Do you want me to help you?"

Daryl didn't have time to even think of how to respond to that before he felt her hand on his arm. He closed his eyes and dropped the rag as she turned him towards her. Nicole ran her hand down his arm and then went to his pants. Daryl opened his eyes as she quickly undid his button and zipper and pulled him out. She ran her hand up and down him slowly, making him groan and close his eyes again. She took one of his hands with her free and and placed it on her breast. He squeezed it gently before sliding his fingers under her bra and playing with her nipple. She tightened her grip on him and moved her hand a little faster. Her free hand went to the back of his neck and pulled to him to her, kissing him hard. She ran her tongue along the inside of his mouth and bit his bottom lip hard enough to make him whimper softly. She could tell he was getting close when his moans got louder and his hips bucked against her hand. She moved away from his mouth and kissed along his jaw and down his neck. His head went to her shoulder as he started cumming in her hand. She continued to work on him until he was completely soft in her hand and let go of him. He didn't move for a minute as he tried to catch his breath.

Standing straight up, he put himself back back in his pants and bent over to pick up the rag. He wiped her hand off with the rag and threw it over with her shirt that he had every intention of burning later. He kissed her softly and smiled.

"That was much better than me doin' it in the woods, alone." Daryl said, making Nicole laugh. "Come on, lets go see what's goin' on outside."

Nicole grabbed another shirt out of her bag and put it on while Daryl grabbed the shirt and rag he threw on the ground. The two of them walked out of the tent and saw bodies everywhere. She looked around but Nicole couldn't tell how many of them were from their group. When they got to Rick, he was talking to some of the guys about what they were going to do with the bodies. There was a debate between burning and burying them. Nicole stood by Daryl and Dale as she listened to them. David was standing across from her and she could feel his eyes on her. She wondered if he suspected anything with Joe. He hasn't said anything about Joe missing yet but he had to know something was going on. After a few minutes of talking, it was decided they were going to burn the walkers and bury the group members and first thing in the morning the group was leaving the area.

Daryl turned to Nicole. "Go start packin' up your stuff. I don' want ya touchin' the bodies. Ain't no reason for ya to."

Nicole nodded at Daryl and walked over to where Carol, Amy W., and Lori were standing.

"Hey Carol, you want to help me start packing up stuff? I guess we're leaving in the morning." Nicole said to Carol.

Carol gave Nicole a small smile. "Sure, I'll help you sweetie. Lori, can you keep an eye on Sophia? She is over sitting with Carl."

"Yeah, sure. I can watch her while you two get stuff packed." Lori said looking over to the two children.

"Can I help you guys pack?" Amy W. asked Nicole.

Nicole stared at her for a minute thinking and then she smiled at her. "Okay, you can help."

The three of them walked to Nicole's tent first. Nicole decided to just pack up her stuff, David could pack his himself. Amy W. and Carol were putting some of Nicole's things in her bag while Nicole was sorting through the stuff in the tent. Amy opened one of the side pockets in Nicole's bag and smiled when she saw photos in it.

"You still have pictures from high school?" Amy W. asked.

Nicole looked at Amy W. and laughed. "Yeah, I still have some pictures."

"Look, that's me, Nikki, and Megan. That was the summer Nikki moved next door to me." Amy W. told Carol as she continued looking through pictures. "Oh my gosh! That's Nikki and Daryl."

Carol took the picture from Amy W. and looked at it. "That's Daryl? He was so cute."

Nicole looked up at the two girls. "Don't ever let him hear you say that. Come on, we're almost done in here then we can move to your tents."

The girls finished Nicole's tent and then moved to Amy W.'s and then Carol's. They packed up quickly and put their bags in the vehicles while the men finished burning the walkers. They had three holes dug for Amy, Jaqui, and Jim. Andrea was crying while she put Amy in one of the holes and buried her. After the three group members were buried, everyone stood silently for a few minutes.

"Alright, T-Dogg and I will keep watch tonight. Everyone else get some sleep, we leave first thing in the morning." Shane said to the group.

David walked over to Nicole and grabbed her arm. "Come on, you heard him. Back to the tent."

"Actually, Nikki's staying with me tonight. Shane doesn't want me sleeping alone after the walker attack." Amy W. said to David.

"You're lucky there are still a lot of people around. I know about you and that stupid redneck." David whispered to Nicole before he dropped her arm and walked to his tent.

"Thank you." Nicole said to Amy W.

Amy W. nodded. "You don't really have to sleep in my tent. I just figured you didn't want to stay with him."

"You were right. I'll probably just sit out here and read tonight. I'm not really that tired." Nicole said.

After Amy W. walked back to her tent, Nicole walked to Daryl's truck where they had put her bag and grabbed a book. She walked to a tree, sat down, and started reading. After a few minutes she was fighting to stay awake. She knew she was tired but she wasn't sure if she wanted to try sleeping again. She wasn't able to fight it very long though before she actually fell asleep.

The next morning when she woke up, she noticed she was in someone's tent. She looked around but there was no one in there with her and the tent had already been cleared out for the move. She didn't have to wonder where she was for long when Merle walked in. She closed her eyes and let out a breath, thankful to be in the Dixon tent.

"Hey there girlie. What were ya doin' sleepin' in the open like that last night?" Merle asked.

"Didn't mean to fall asleep." Nicole said. She could hear Rick, Shane, and Daryl outside talking to David. David sounded pissed. "What's going on?"

Nicole got up and walked outside, Merle right behind her. "Don' know." Merle lied.

Nicole started walking over to Daryl who met her halfway. "I want ya to get in the truck with Merle and wait. We're leavin' in a few minutes. Just finishin' up here." He told her.

"What's going on Daryl?" Nicole asked.

"David's been bit. He got bit last night during the attack and didn' tell no one. Rick, Shane, and I don' want him comin' with us. It's too risky. Never know when he is gonna turn. I guess he don' like us leavin' him here though." Daryl told her, looking at David. He turned back to Nicole. "Ya need to stay in the truck with Merle alright? We'll only be a couple minutes then we'll leave."

"Okay." Nicole said.

Daryl walked back to the Rick and Shane who were still fighting with David. Nicole turned to Daryl's truck and saw Merle had taken down the tent and was loading it in the truck. Merle looked at Nicole as she walked to the truck and got in. After he finished with the tent he got in and sat down next to her. Neither one of them said anything, they just waited for Daryl so they could leave. They waited for about 10 minutes before Daryl got in the truck. Without a word, Daryl started the truck and followed the other vehicles as they left, leaving David behind.


	10. Chapter 10

_Wow! Everyone seems happy David is gone. LOL. Thank you all for your awesome reviews and all the adds._

_**Please review.**  
_

Nicole sat between the Dixon's with Merle driving. They had been driving for days with still no idea where they were going. They stopped at a couple of places here and there to see about getting more supplies or see if it was safe enough to stay the night but they never stayed anywhere more than a day. That was the thing Nicole missed the most, she liked having one place to go back to every night. Not having to worry where you are going to sleep or what to eat or if you will get attacked while you are sleeping. No matter how much Nicole tried, she couldn't sleep in this world she lived in now. She never felt safe enough and the nightmares never stopped coming.

She use to have nightmares about Brian in the convenience store. She knew there was no way he made it out with the amount of walkers that were there. When she joined the group, her nightmares changed though. She started dreaming about Daryl. Not just Daryl getting attacked by walkers either. She dreamed of the break up, his phone messages played over and over in her mind. The longer she stayed with the group the more dreams she had.

Until the day they killed Joe. Her nightmares took a completely different turn then. She had her dream of Daryl dying but only had that one twice. She kept seeing Joe getting killed. She had killed walkers before sure but it was nothing like Joe. She could still remember how it felt when she stabbed him. She still remember his scream when the knife went into his side. And she still remembered seeing him laying there with the arrow in his head. Nicole didn't like Joe but she didn't want him dead, well at least not get killed in front of her.

Between driving and keeping watch, Daryl hadn't slept in two days so Merle put his bike in the back of the truck to let Daryl get some rest. Even though he wasn't around her much the last couple of days, he knew Nicole wasn't getting much sleep either. Carol was still keeping tabs on Nicole, who was now like a daughter to her. Daryl stretched out as much as he could in the passenger seat and pulled Nicole to him. She put her head on his chest and his arm went around her waist.

"Best get some sleep." Daryl whispered.

Nicole sighed. "I'm not tired."

"Hmm...Well maybe ya should try to sleep anyway. May be another long night." Nicole didn't say anything, she just played with his jacket. "Hey, I ain't goin no where. I can wake ya up if ya want."

Nicole lifted her head up to look at Daryl. "Wake me up?"

"Carol told me that ya have been havin' trouble sleepin'. Ya need to sleep though. I'm right here and if anythin' happens, I'll wake ya up. I promise." Daryl said.

Nicole nodded and laid her head back down. Daryl made sure she fell asleep before closing his eyes and falling asleep himself. Daryl woke up less than an hour later to Nicole talking in her sleep. Even though he couldn't understand her, he knew it wasn't a good dream. He didn't want to wake her up unless he had to. He didn't think she would go back to sleep if he did. He ran his hand up and down her back and talked to her, trying to calm her down without waking her. After a few minutes, she quieted down and snuggled into Daryl more.

"Seems her dreams are gettin' better. Use to hear her screamin'." Merle said to Daryl.

"Yeah. I guess that's good. I'm sure she'll get 'em again though. She always did get nightmares. Hell, she got 'em just from watchin' movies. Never got 'em this bad though." Daryl said, still rubbing her back.

He lay his head back down and fell back asleep a few minutes later. The next time he woke up was because of Merle. Daryl noticed that they had stopped and looked out his window to see where they were.

"Rick wants to hit that store and see if there's anythin' worth takin'." Merle said.

Daryl sighed and sat up more, sliding Nicole to Merle and getting out if the truck. "Ya let anythin' happen to her, I'll kill ya. Ya hear me?"

"Ya ain't gonna wake her up? Ya promised her ya would wake her if anything happened and that ya weren't goin' no where. Think it's a good idea to just leave without her knowin'?" Merle asked as Daryl grabbed his crossbow.

"No, let her sleep. She needs it. Ain't nothin' gonna happen. Be in and out like normal. I'll be back before she wakes up." Daryl said.

Daryl shut the truck door as quietly as he could and went to the front of the store where Rick, T- Dogg, and Glenn were waiting for him. Together, the four of them walked in, weapons ready.

The store was quiet when they got in. There were seven dead walkers laying on the floor. Daryl figured someone had been staying in the store but left when walkers broke in the front door. He looked around the store, seeing if there was anything the group could use. He packed his bag with some medicine, drinks, and food. It was mostly snack food but they didn't care at this point. Food was food. He looked around the food a little more, hoping to find what he wanted. He smiled when be found it, chocolate. He shoved as much as he could into his bag. He knew Nicole would be happy to see it, she loved chocolate.

He turned when he heard a noise come from behind him, crossbow aimed in the direction of the closet. The other three guys also stopped what they were doing to see what the noise was. They quietly walked to the closet, weapons ready. When Glenn opened the closet door, both he and Rick dropped their weapons. Neither one of them were prepared for what they saw.

"Brian." Daryl whispered right before Brian lunged for him, only to be shot by T-Dogg.

After a few minutes, T-Dogg finally broke the silence. "What the hell was that? Since when do either one of you freeze up? You know that guy?"

Daryl didn't answer him, instead he turned to Rick. "What are we gonna tell Nikki?"

Rick shook his head. He had no idea what to tell her. She was so close to Brian, this was going to crush her.

"What are we telling Nicole? Who was he?" Glenn asked.

Rick looked at Glenn and T-Dogg. "That's Brian. It's Nicole's brother."

T-Dogg looked down at Brian and sighed. "Don't tell her anything. She already thinks he's dead."

Daryl's looked at T-Dogg. "How do ya know that?"

"Joe told me when we were on the roof." T-Dogg said.

Nobody said anything while they finished packing their bags. Daryl wondered why Nicole didn't tell him about Brian. He had a bad feeling that David and Joe had something to do with Brian. As much as he wanted to know, he vowed not to ask her about it. If he was right, it was just going to make her think of what happened again.

After they finished, they walked out to the cars and loaded them with the supplies. Daryl pulled a couple drinks and snacks out for him and Merle. He made sure to pull out enough for Nicole too, in case she woke up.

"Any problems?" Daryl asked Merle as he got in the truck and handed him a bag of chips.

"You're lucky I like your girl. She's too damn clingy. Ain't even able to move with her layin' on me. I don' know how ya stand that." Merle said.

Daryl laughed and started pulling Nicole away from Merle and back to him. Merle started up the truck and followed the other vehicles as they drove away from the store. Daryl sighed and kissed Nicole's head. He had never been so happy she didn't go into a store with him. If she had been awake, she would have.

They didn't drive for long when they saw the Shane's car pull into a warehouse parking lot. Daryl and Merle watched as Shane and Rick got out of their vehicles and talked for a minute before Rick walked over to Daryl's truck.

"Shane wants to check this place out. He says the second floor use to be used as a homeless shelter so it may have some supplies." Rick said to Daryl and Merle.

Daryl nodded. "Sounds 'bout right."

After Rick walked back to the others, Daryl shook Nicole lightly. "Hey, come on. Gotta get up." When Nicole didn't move, he shook her harder. "Come on, don' make make drag your ass outta the truck cuz ya know I will."

Nicole sighed. "Really? That's kind of mean." Nicole sat up and looked around. "Where are we?"

"I don' know. Looks like a warehouse but Shane says it use to be used as a homeless shelter. They wanna check it out. If it checks out alright, maybe we can stop movin' around and settle here for a bit." Daryl told her.

Nicole smiled. "That would be nice. I'm so tired of moving."

Daryl, Merle, and Nicole got out of the truck and followed the group to the front door of the building. All of them weapons ready, preparing for what could be inside.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you everyone for all your reviews for the last chapter. Sorry it's taking me so long to post lately. Been a little crazy. I am hoping things are back to normal now though. Believe it or not, I actually have the next chapter pretty much done so can post as early as tomorrow... :)_

**_Please review._**

"Best stay close to me or Daryl." Merle told Nicole as they waited for Shane who was trying to break the lock on the front door. Merle pulled his knife out of his pocket. "Take this. Ya may end up needin' it."

Nicole shook her head. "Last time that didn't work out too good. Remember?"

"This time ya ain't usin' it on nothin' but walkers." Merle smiled when Nicole took the knife from him. "That's my girl."

The group moved into the building after Shane got the lock off, with Rick and Shane in front. Nicole did as she was told and stayed right by the Dixon boys. Luckily, there weren't a lot of walkers on the first floor and the group took them out easily. Nicole didn't even have to use the knife she was given, Daryl made sure of that. He was pissed that Merle gave it back to her. He didn't think she was ready to have it back yet.

"Looks like this was where they kept everybody." Rick said.

Nicole looked around the room. There were cots everywhere, most of them had blood on them now. There was an open door leading to another room that looked like the kitchen. While everyone else was looking around the main room, Nicole walked into the kitchen. She searched through the kitchen, opening cupboards and drawers, and throwing anything edible in her bag.

"What the hell are ya doin'?" Daryl asked angrily.

Nicole turned around to see Daryl glaring at her. "I was just looking around in here. Nothing to worry about." She told him, turning her attention back to the cupboard she was looking in.

"What the fuck do ya mean nothin' to worry 'bout? What would ya have done if ya ran into walkers?" Daryl yelled.

"I'm a big girl Daryl. I can take care of myself. Besides, we already cleared all the walkers out remember?" Nicole said still going through the cupboard.

"Ya don' know that we cleared out the walkers. We only searched this floor. There could be more upstairs." Daryl continued to yell at her.

Nicole stood up and looked at Daryl. "Stop yelling at me Daryl. If you are really that worried about walkers, you should be a little quieter."

Nicole telling Daryl to be quiet only made him more mad. He picked up the closest thing to him which happened to be a pot and threw it across the kitchen. Nicole jumped when the pot hit the wall and she started walking out of the kitchen. Daryl grabbed her arm before she got to the door.

"Don' walk away from me. I'm fuckin' talkin' to ya." Daryl yelled at her.

"Daryl." Nicole whispered.

Daryl looked at Nicole. Now that he stopped yelling at her, he could see that she was getting scared. She was actually afraid of him. They had fights before and she was never afraid of him. He had never thrown things before though. Then he noticed his hand was still gripping her arm tightly and he was sure he was hurting her. He let her arm go and walked out of the room. Nicole stood there and closed her eyes, trying to get herself back together. After a minute, she followed Daryl back to the main room.

"Alright, I know we're all tired from being on the move all the time but it's not safe enough down here yet for us to sleep. Tomorrow we'll see what we can do to reinforce this floor to make it livable. I think we need to check upstairs and stay up there for tonight though if we can." Rick told the group.

Everyone followed Rick upstairs. When they got to the top, there was another door with a lock on it. Once again, they waited for Shane to open the door. After he got it open, they walked the rest of the way up the stairs to the second floor. They walked into a hallway and looked around. There were rooms on both sides of the hallway and they were all locked, except one.

Nicole glanced in the room that almost looked like an office. There were file cabinets in it but that was it. She figured it was used just to store information and a few supplies. Daryl and T-Dogg went into the room while the rest of the group waited in the hall. They walked back out of the room a few minutes later with Daryl holding keys in his hand. Taking the keys from Daryl, Shane started opening the locked doors, one at a time in case there were walkers inside. Fortunately for the group, the second floor was walker free.

"Must not have had anyone staying in here when the outbreak started." Shane said.

"What are all these rooms? I thought everyone stayed on the first floor. These look like private bedrooms." Andrea said.

Shane nodded. "The shelter helped people get jobs when they could. Some of the people who lived here would work for the shelter doing jobs and in return got a private room. There are plenty of rooms here for everyone to have their own if you want it. I'll give everyone keys so you can have some privacy from the rest of the group. I am pretty sure I'm not the only one here who is ready for some alone time."

Shane passed out keys to the group and showed them all where there rooms were. Daryl still hadn't talked to Nicole. He wanted to but he didn't know what to say to her. He was pretty sure she hated him right now and didn't want to see him. Shane walked over to Daryl and gave him his room key.

"Nicole says that it is probably better if you hang onto the key. She said she would lose it if it was up to her." Shane told him.

Shane walked to Andrea to give her a key leaving Daryl staring at the key in his hand. Nicole wanted to share a room with him. That's a good thing, right?

TWD

After everyone had a key and went their separate ways, Daryl walked into his and Nicole's room. He saw Nicole laying on their bed, facing away from the door. He knew she wasn't sleeping but she didn't turn over to look at him either so she was still mad. He sighed and walked over to the bed. He climbed in behind her and put his hand around her waist and kissed her shoulder. Nicole didn't even acknowledge he was laying there as she continued to stare at the wall.

"I'm thinkin' we should talk." Daryl said to her. He continued when she didn't respond. "Hey, ya gonna ignore me all night?"

Nicole still didn't say anything. She was still upset with him. She knows he didn't mean to react the way he did but he still did it and it scared the hell out of her. Daryl rolled Nicole over to look at her but she had her eyes shut. He rested his forehead on hers and ran his fingers through her hair. She opened her eyes and looked into his. She was surprised to see he looked just as scared as she was.

"Okay, you can talk." Nicole said quietly.

Daryl let out a breath. "I didn' mean to scare ya. I just, I can' lose ya again. Ya wanderin' off on your own can' happen. Ya can' do that to me. I can' be wonderin' where ya are and if you're alright. We got enough close calls without ya addin' to it."

Nicole nodded. "I'm sorry. I won't go anywhere without telling someone from now on."

Daryl closed his eyes as Nicole brought her hands to his face and kissed him softly. Daryl took one of his hands from her hair and moved it to her wrist. He slid his hand down her arm as he slipped his tongue in her mouth. She moaned into his mouth that was quickly followed by a sharp intake of breath.

He pulled away quickly to look at her and noticed his hand was on her upper arm. He sat up, pulling her with him so she was sitting. He tried to adjust her long sleeved shirt so he could look at her arm but couldn't see it so he started pulling at the hem of her shirt.

"Daryl." Nicole said shaking her head.

Daryl hesitated for a moment, looking into Nicole's green eyes before pulling her shirt over her head. His mouth dropped open and he was shaking slightly as he looked at her. He ran his fingers lightly over her where bruises that matched his fingers covered her arm. He pulled his hand away and closed his eyes. He had never left a mark on a woman before. Why did it have to be her that he did?

"Daryl. I'm fine. It's okay." Nicole told him.

He opened his eyes and looked at her arm. "How can ya say that? It ain't fine. Look what I did. I ain't no better than your asshole ex- boyfriend and his friend."

Nicole moved from her spot to straddle his lap. She put her hand under his chin and forced his head up to look at her. "Don't do that to yourself. Don't compare yourself to them. You are so much better than them. What happened was an accident, you didn't mean to do it. Do you really think I would still be sitting here with you if I thought you would hurt me?"

Nicole moved her hands to the back of his neck and leaned in to kiss him. She pulled away after a second to look at Daryl who's eyes were closed again. She smiled as she kissed him again. It didn't take him long to respond. His tongue made its way back into her mouth, fighting against hers. His hands ran up her sides and to her chest, kneading her breasts through her bra. Nicole worked on the buttons of his shirt and she started grinding on him, making him groan. His hands went behind her and unhooked her bra, throwing it on the floor.

Daryl moved to sit on his knees, lifting Nicole up with him and gently laying her down as he hovered over her. He kissed her again, sucking on her tongue lightly before breaking away from the kiss and moving to her neck. He started planting kisses down her neck to her shoulder. He made his way to her chest, taking her nipple in his mouth. Nicole moaned, arching into him and rolling her hips against him.

Daryl licked his way up her chest towards her mouth, stopping to suck on her neck. He took Nicole's hands in his, raising them over her head as he kissed her mouth. He continued to work his hips against hers through their pants until he couldn't take anymore. He took one of his hands away from hers and started working on her jeans when they heard a knock at their door.

"Daryl. Come on man open up. There is a third floor to this building that looks like it was used to store supplies. Rick and Shane want us to go through it and see if there is anything worth keeping." Glenn called through the door.

"Ya gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me." Daryl said through gritted teeth making Nicole laugh. Daryl glared at Nicole for a second before laughing himself. "Ya best behave while I'm upstairs. Ya hear me?"

Nicole rolled her eyes at him. "I told you I would didn't I?"

Daryl nodded and leaned down to kiss her. He got up when he heard Glenn knocking at the door again. He put his shirt back on and waited until Nicole had her clothes back on before opening the door. Nicole could see Glenn standing in the hall, his face turning red as Daryl talked to him. Daryl shut the door leaving Nicole in her room alone.


	12. Chapter 12

_Thank you everyone who reviewed and thank you to EonOfFortress for adding me to your community. Make sure everyone checks it out. It's called "The Best of Daryl Dixon". Kind of a fun chapter, hope everyone likes it. :)_

**_Please keep reviewing._**

After Daryl left, Nicole sat on the bed for a few minutes trying to decide what she wanted to do. She went through her bag and unfolded and refolded clothes a few times. She missed being able to clean and organize all the time. After she got tired of playing around with her clothes, she took a deck of cards out of her bag. She set up a couple games of solitaire but quickly got tired of that. She stood up and walked out of the room into the hallway at the same time Amy W. walked out of Merle's room. Amy W. got startled when she looked up to see Nicole staring at her with wide eyes and her mouth open.

"I...uh..." Amy W. started.

Nicole shook her head as Amy W. struggled with her words. "I don't want to know about you and Merle but what are you doing now?"

Amy W. shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"

"I'm bored. Daryl went upstairs with a few others to look around. Glenn said they found supplies so they're checking it out." Nicole told her.

Amy nodded. "So, why don't we go upstairs with them and see what they found?"

"Oh no. Not going to happen. I am not getting in trouble again." Nicole said.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for that. We can always have Merle take us upstairs." Amy said, knocking on Merle's door before Nicole could stop her.

Merle was all for going up to the third floor to check it out. He went back into his room and grabbed his gun, just in case. The three of them made their way down the hall and to the stairs. They could hear the guys talking and laughing before they even got to the top of the stairs so Merle figured it was safe to put the gun away. When they reached the third floor landing, Rick, Glenn, T-Dogg, and Daryl were spotted going through some boxes.

"Findin' anythin' good baby brother?" Merle asked Daryl. Daryl's eyes narrowed when he saw Nicole walking over to him.

"You can't be mad. I'm not alone, I brought Merle." Nicole told him. Daryl sighed and nodded.

"We got some replacement mattresses and blankets for the beds if we need 'em, water, juice, canned and boxed food." Daryl said, looking in the box he was working on and listing off some of the things they found.

"That's great. We can have a break from squirrel for a while." Nicole said, making Daryl look at her. "Not that the squirrel is bad or anything."

"Uh-hu. I know ya hate the squirrel. Ya don' gotta lie to me." Daryl said. Nicole laughed and kissed Daryl before looking in his box. "Rick wants everythin' put on the shelves over there. Ya can just set boxes by the ladder. I don' want ya climbin' the ladder with them boxes."

Nicole rolled her eyes at Daryl but did what she was told. Daryl let Nicole stay and look through boxes for supplies for a while before he handed her some cans and asked her to run them down to Lori and Carol for dinner. Amy W. took some cans and drinks as well and followed Nicole down.

TWD

Nicole couldn't believe the excitement of everyone at the sight of canned meat and vegetables. Before the world ended, having a meal like this was nothing to most people. It would have been something someone would make if they were limited on time or money or if they were single. Now though, everyone looked at it like it was a feast.

After dinner, Nicole, Carol, and Amy W. were cleaning up the office where the group had ate.

"I can't wait until the first floor is ready for us to use. I would love to use that kitchen." Carol said.

"Not me. I hate being in the kitchen. I can't cook." Nicole said.

"Everyone can cook sweetie." Carol said.

Amy W. laughed. "Nikki can't cook. Trust me, I've ate her cooking. If it's anything more complicated than mac and cheese or a tv dinner, there's a chance it'll kill you."

The three of them laughed and continued talking when they noticed Daryl walk past the room with...chocolate! The three girls stopped talking and stared at Daryl as he walked by. Daryl stopped walking when he realized he was being watched.

"What are ya'll lookin' at?" He asked them.

Nicole walked to Daryl, eyes wide. "Daryl, where did you get that?" She asked, pointing to the chocolate.

Daryl looked down at the chocolate in his hands and back up at Nicole and he grinned. "Don' worry 'bout it. It's mine." Nicole made a reach for it but Daryl moved it and swatted her hand away. "Don' think 'bout it. It's mine and I ain't sharin'. Ya want chocolate, get your own." Daryl said, walking up to the third floor.

Nicole stood there in shock. Daryl had never told he wouldn't share with her before. In fact, most of the time he insisted she eat when he ate and what he was eating. He made her eat some pretty gross things and now, she wanted that damn chocolate.

"What kind of world do we live in when a man won't share his chocolate with his girlfriend?" Amy W. asked.

Nicole looked back at the girls. "Oh, he's going to share whether he wants to or not."

Amy W. and Carol laughed at Nicole as she walked out the door to find Daryl. After looking around upstairs for a little bit, she found him hiding in an empty spot on one of the top storage shelves eating his chocolate. Daryl looked down from his spot when he saw Nicole climbing up the ladder and grinned.

"Ya still ain't gettin' any." Daryl told her as she reached the top.

Nicole watched him put a piece of the melting chocolate in his mouth and smiled at him. "That's okay, you can have it. I probably wouldn't share if I found it either."

Nicole looked at where he was sitting. He picked that spot for a reason, just big enough for one person.

"No room up here for ya. Best just leave." Daryl told her.

Nicole thought for a minute and with Daryl protesting, she climbed up anyway and climbed on his lap, straddling him. He put the chocolate down behind him in attempts to protect it from her. He figured she was here to steal it even though she said she wasn't but she never made a move for it.

"I love it when you're all protective about something. It's such a turn on." Nicole said.

Nicole took Daryl's hand and ran her tongue up his finger, licking the melted chocolate off. He got hard almost instantly when she put his finger in her mouth and started sucking on it. She took his finger out of her mouth and put his hand on her waist. She put her hand on the back of his neck as she moved her face closer to his. She ran her tongue along his top lip and then his bottom one before pulling his bottom lip in her mouth and sucking on it lightly.

Nicole pulled away just as Daryl was going in for a kiss. She got off his lap and started climbing down the ladder.

"What the hell? Where ya goin'?" Daryl yelled down to her.

She smiled up at him. "I forgot I have something I have to do. Later Daryl."

Well now what was he going to do? He couldn't believe she did that. She must have been pretty upset that he said he wouldn't share the chocolate with her to come tease him like that. He would have shared. He got it for her but he wanted to tease her a little bit first. He sighed and reached behind him. He jumped up and looked at where he was sitting when he didn't feel the candy. It was gone. Daryl started laughing to himself. She played him to get what she wanted.

TWD

Nicole was sitting in her room waiting. She knew Daryl was looking for her by now to get back his missing chocolate, which she was starting to eat. She stood up when she heard Daryl attempt to open the room door and swear when he found it locked. She heard him unlock the door just before he opened it. He stood in the doorway and stared at her for a minute, then slammed the door shut and locked it.

Daryl quickly made his way over to Nicole and pushed her to the wall. As soon as her back hit the wall, he kissed her, making her drop the rest of the candy on the floor. This was no sweet kiss. It was fast and needy as their tongues and teeth collided with each other. He pulled away from her long enough to pull her shirt up over her head and unhook her bra. His mouth went back to her mouth as she started with the buttons on his shirt. Getting frustrated with them, she just ripped the shirt open, buttons flying everywhere. She pulled his wife beater over his head, throwing it somewhere on the floor with the rest of the clothes. They both went for each other's pants at the same time, both working as fast as they could to get them off.

Daryl got Nicole's pants off first, lifting her up as he kicked off his own pants. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he started placing kisses down her neck and shoulder as he pushed himself inside her. She threw her head back against the wall and moaned out his name as he started thrusting in her. He hit her fast and hard, wanting to slow down but he was so turned on by her teasing him and her moaning that he couldn't slow down. He groaned when he felt her pull hard on his hair.

"I'm gettin' close. I need ya to cum for me." Daryl got out between moans.

He took her nipple in his mouth as he hit her as hard as he could. She cried out in pleasure and dug her nails into his shoulders. Her legs tightened around him and her back arched as she orgasmed. A thousand feelings and sensations flowing through her that she hadn't felt in years. He didn't have long to enjoy her orgasm before his own hit him. He bit into her shoulder as he spilled through her.

Neither one of them moved for a few minutes. Both were trying to catch their breath and coming down from their orgasms. After a few minutes, Daryl set Nicole down and picked up his boxers. Nicole searched the room for her own clothes which had gotten thrown everywhere. After Daryl got his boxers on, he bent down and picked up the candy bar. He walked over to the bed and sat down with his back against the headboard.

"Come here." Daryl said as he watched her get dressed.

Nicole finished putting her bra on and walked over to sit with Daryl, putting her head on his shoulder. He broke the candy and gave her half of what was left. She smiled as she took it.

"I should save it. Never know when we'll get chocolate again." Nicole told him.

Daryl laughed. "Don' worry 'bout it. I got some stashed from a store we hit on the way here."

"What are we doing tonight? You have to be on watch or help Rick?" Nicole asked him.

"Nope, nothin' planned. Ya and me ain't leavin' this room tonight." Daryl said kissing the side of her head.


	13. Chapter 13

_Hahaha. Everyone seemed to like the smut. LOL. Don't worry. There will be more smut in this story but sadly, not this chapter. :(_

_Thank you to everyone who is reviewing and for all the adds._

_**Please review.**_

The group had been staying in the warehouse for several weeks. They had fixed it so the sinks and showers worked, though it was all cold water. The group didn't seem to mind. Everyone was just happy to have running water. They still made sure to boil the water before cooking with it though. Everyone was also happy to have their own bathrooms in their room. The group cleaned up the first floor and boarded it up so they could use it as they please as well. Carol was so excited to be able to use the kitchen, she insisted on being in it for every meal.

Nicole, Amy W., and Carol were in the kitchen making lunch for everyone. Carol was determined to teach Nicole how to cook but it wasn't going well. If Carol didn't watch her closely, she would put in wrong food measurements or the food would end up burnt. Amy W. thought it was amusing to watch so she made sure she was there for every cooking lesson. The three of them were making soup when Ed came down.

"Well, look what we have here. Women in the kitchen, just like it's suppose to be." Ed said to the girls, giving Nicole and Amy W. a once over.

"Do you always have to be a sexist pig Ed?" Amy W. asked him.

Ed grinned at her. "You're talking to me about being a sexist pig? Aren't you fucking Merle Dixon? He's worse than I am."

Nicole shook her head. "Don't bring the Dixon's into this. You are much worse than they are. Merle may be a little sexist but he has never touched one before."

Ed's grin faded. "You would know what that's like too wouldn't you? Is that why you killed Joe? You got tired of him hitting on you all the time?"

"How do you know about Joe?" Nicole asked quietly.

"David told me. You didn't think he didn't know did you? I'm sure you had to know that he did. That's why you left David behind right?" Ed said. He knew he was pissing Nicole off and that was exactly what he wanted. He was mad that they had to leave David behind. David was the first person Ed actually got along with since the outbreak.

"No Ed. We left David behind because David got bit. It was too risky taking him with us." Nicole told him. Ed laughed.

"Come on, we both know David wasn't bit. David was pissed when Rick and Daryl told him he wasn't allowed to come with us because he was too much of a danger to the rest of the group. He talked to me before we left him. He told me everything." Ed told her.

Ed turned and walked out of the kitchen, leaving the girls to think about what he said. Carol and Amy W. both were looking at Nicole who was looking at the counter thinking about what Ed had just said. David wasn't bit? Daryl told Nicole he was. Why would he lie to her? Carol walked over to Nicole and put her arm around her shoulder.

"You killed Joe?" Amy W. asked.

Nicole looked up at her and nodded. "Daryl and I did but he was going to kill Daryl. We had to. I mean, we didn't just kill him for the fun of it or anything."

"It's okay sweetie. No one thinks you and Daryl are killers or in any way dangerous to the group. If we did, you would have been left with David." Carol said.

Nicole looked at Carol. "Did you know that we just left him there? That he wasn't bit?"

Carol shook her head. "No. I knew we left David but you told me he was bit and that was the only story I heard. I'm sure Ed is just trying to get you worked up."

"Only one way to find out." Nicole said.

Nicole pushed away from Carol and walked out of the kitchen. She went upstairs to her and Daryl's room. He had just got out of the shower and was getting dressed when she walked in. She watched him for a minute as he buttoned his pants. Daryl looked up at her and smiled.

"Lunch done already?" He asked her. When she didn't answer him, he moved towards her. "Hey, ya alright?"

She closed her eyes and tried to brace herself for what was coming next. "Was David bit?" Daryl looked down at the floor but didn't say anything. "Daryl! Was David bit because Ed sure seems to think he wasn't."

Daryl looked up at Nicole and swallowed hard before he answered. "No. David wasn't bit."

"You lied to me? Why?" Nicole asked him.

"I had to protect ya from him. I didn' think ya would just leave him there. Ya were so fucked up already after everythin' that happened with Joe and..."

"Fucked up?" Nicole asked, cutting him off. "So you didn't tell me the truth because you didn't want to have to deal with me is that it?"

"Ain't what I said. Don' put words in my mouth." Daryl snapped at her. He turned away from her, closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths. He really didn't want a repeat of the last time they fought. He needed to control himself.

"Anything else you need to tell me, Daryl? You know, before I find out from someone else." Nicole asked him. He turned back around to look at Nicole and started biting on his thumb nail. "Oh God. There is something else. What is it?"

Daryl dropped his hand from his mouth. "On the way here, we stopped at a store for supplies and we saw a walker. We saw...Brian."

Nicole's could feel tears in her eyes but she was refusing to let them fall. She was too mad to let them fall. She would cry over Brian later.

"And you didn't tell me? Let me guess, I was too fucked up for that too?" Nicole asked quietly.

"Nicole please. I was just tryin' to protect ya. I didn' want ya hurt. Ya had already been through enough shit without addin' to it." He said just as quiet.

He moved towards her again but she backed away. "Don't. I just, I need to think."

Daryl nodded and let her walk back out of the room. Everything in him was screaming for him to make her stay but he knew she needed time to get over it. He knew he fucked up but he was confident she would be back. He figured he would give her the rest of the day to cool off and then she would be fine by the time they went to bed.

After Daryl finished getting dressed, he left the room and went downstairs where he found the group huddled around talking in the main room. The supplies were starting to get short and they had almost no medical supplies if they were needed. It was decided the group was going on a run in the morning. Rick was going along with T-Dogg, Glenn, Ed, Amy W., and Merle.

"Okay, we leave first thing tomorrow." Rick told the group.

"I want to go too." Nicole said.

Daryl looked at her quickly. "Ya ain't goin'."

Nicole nodded. "Yeah, I am. I'm going. That's final."

"Okay then. First thing in the morning everyone." Rick said. He walked around to Daryl and put his hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry man. You got me, Amy W., and Merle going with her. She'll be fine."

Daryl jerked away from Rick and walked out of the main room to the stairs. Nicole sighed as she watched Daryl storm off. She didn't want him to be mad that she was going, she just needed to be away from him for a while. She knew there was no way she was going to be able to think clearly with him around all the time. And she needed time to think.

After the group broke apart, Nicole stayed with Carol and Amy W. She wasn't ready to see Daryl yet, especially since he was mad. She knew she needed to talk to him one more time though before she left. She stayed with the other two girls in the kitchen talking and cooking in for a few hours before she decided it was getting late. She was getting tired and she still needed to talk to Daryl before she left.

She said her goodnights to the girls and headed upstairs to their room. When she got in the room, it was dark but she could see Daryl laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. She changed into sweats and a tank top and climbed in bed next to him. Daryl didn't look at her when she laid down.

"I'm goin' with ya tomorrow." Daryl said.

Nicole looked at Daryl in the dark. "No. I need to go without you. I need to be away from you right now. Besides, I'll be fine. I'll stay by Merle the whole time I'm gone."

"Fine. Go alone then. Not like I need ya here anyway. I was just fine before without ya." Daryl snapped.

"Daryl, please don't." Nicole said.

Daryl jumped out of the bed and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. Daryl never came back to the room to see Nicole and she couldn't sleep because of it. She didn't want to leave in the morning on bad terms with Daryl. She was still mad that he lied to her but she still wanted him with her that night. She was nervous about going on the supply run and really wished he was there to hold her and tell her the run would be fine and nothing was going to happen.

When she got up in the morning, she got out of bed and got dressed. She grabbed her bag and went downstairs where the rest of the group was gathering. Well, almost the rest of the group. There was still no sign of Daryl. Everyone said goodbye to those that were going into town as they started getting into vehicles. Nicole did one last look to see if she could find Daryl before she left but he was nowhere to be seen. She sighed and got in the car.

The drive to the city was longer than Nicole remembered it being. Glenn and Rick told her it is usually in and out, no problems when they made runs. They would run into walkers but nothing they can't handle. The cars stopped at a Wal-Mart and the group gathered their bags and weapons and got out. Merle stopped Nicole before they got too close to the building.

"Ya still got that knife I gave ya?" He asked.

"Yeah. Right here." Nicole told him, pulling it out of her pocket to show him.

Merle nodded. "Good girl. If ya run into just one or two walkers, use that knife instead of your gun. Don' wanna attract more of them if we can help it."

The group moved into the building as a unit and took out whatever walkers they could find. They split up after all the walkers that came out were down. Merle made sure Nicole went with him and Amy W. over to the clothes section while Rick, T-Dogg, Glenn, and Ed went to the health and beauty section for personal hygiene and medical supplies. They had to kill a few more walkers once they got to the clothes section but other than that, everything was going good. They had their bags almost filled when Ed wandered over to them.

"Hey, what the fuck are ya doin'? Get back over to your section and..." Merle started.

He didn't get a chance to finish what he was saying though before he got hit in the back of the head. Nicole turned to see David standing behind Merle with a gun. He grinned at Nicole when he saw her and she felt her stomach drop.

"Hey babe, bet you never thought you'd see me again did you?" David said.

"How did you find us?" Nicole asked while Amy W. bent down to see how Merle was.

"I had a little help." David said nodding to Ed. He threw two walkie talkies on the floor. "Here, I won't be needing these anymore. Now, you're coming with me Nicole. Let's go."

"She ain't goin' nowhere with ya." Merle growled at David as he started to get up.

David smirked at Merle. "Are you going to stop me Merle?" He asked pointing his gun at him.

Amy W. and Merle immediately pulled their guns on David who grabbed Nicole's arm and pointed the gun at her head. Merle and Amy W. were so involved with what was going on with David and Nicole, neither of them noticed Ed as he pulled out his gun. Amy W. went to take a step closer to David but was stopped when Ed shot her, sending the bullet through her head. Nicole screamed as Ed and David pulled her out of the store. Merle was kneeling by Amy W.'s body when the rest of the group came running. After Merle told them what happened, they decided to go back to the warehouse and figure out what needed to be done next.

When they got to the warehouse, Merle found Daryl pacing around the main room on the first floor waiting for Nicole.

"Where is she?" Daryl asked as Merle approached him.

"Listen baby brother, we got us a problem." Merle said calmly.

"Where the fuck is she?" Daryl yelled at Merle.

"They took her. David and Ed took her." Merle said.


	14. Chapter 14

_Sorry everyone. I have been very sick this past week. Still not completely over it but better enough to update! Thank you to everyone who is reviewing and for the adds. I noticed some new reviewers the last few chapters so thank you. Everything you guys are doing is greatly appreciated._

**_Please review._**

After driving for a while, David pulled the car off the road and went down a trail in the woods. He parked the car and he and Ed got out. David opened the back door and pulled Nicole out of the car. She looked around and realized she knew where she was. The group had drove past this spot on the way to Wal-Mart. The warehouse was only about five miles away.

David walked Nicole to the tent and sat her down next to Ed who was playing with her knife. David then went back to the car to look through what supplies they had.

"This is a nice knife Nicole. Where did you get it? Daryl?" Ed asked without looking up.

"Merle." Nicole said quietly.

Ed nodded. "I figured it had to belong to a Dixon. It's a nice knife, not a cheap knock off hunting knife like most people buy. It feels good too. I think I'll start using this instead of my knife."

"You can't keep it. It's not yours." Nicole told Ed.

"It's mine now sweetheart. Besides not like the Dixon's are ever going to know I took it." Ed said.

Nicole laughed. "Oh they'll know. Trust me, they are coming and they will find us and they will kill you. See, you made some really big mistakes Ed. You pulled a gun Merle, you shot and killed his girlfriend, and kidnapped his brother's girlfriend. Then you let Merle live. I can't even imagine the amount of rage going through Merle right about now. And once Daryl finds out, those two are going to be looking for you and they won't stop until they find you and until you're dead."

TWD

"What the fuck do ya mean they took her?" Daryl snapped at Merle.

"Ed helped him. He has been keeping in contact with David the whole time. He must have told David we were making a supply run." Rick told Daryl.

Daryl turned to Rick and started yelling at him. "Ya told me ya would watch her! Ya told me she would be fine! Ya fuckin' lied to me!"

Merle grabbed Daryl when he lunged at Rick. T-Dogg and Shane jumped in to help as Daryl turned on Merle and started hitting him. Daryl was pulled off his brother and held back by T-Dogg and Shane as Merle and Rick talked to him.

"Ain't our fault Daryl. David snuck up on us." Merle said.

"How did he sneak up on ya? Weren't ya payin' attention? And how the fuck did he get out of the store alive and with her?" Daryl asked, still yelling.

"Ed walked to our group and when I was talkin' to him, David hit me from behind. Ed killed Amy W. and they took Nikki." Merle said. Shane stopped fighting Daryl and dropped his hands to his sides. He turned to face Merle and Rick.

"Ed killed Amy W.?" Shane asked them quietly. Rick nodded. "Where is she? I wanna see her."

"She's in the car." Rick said as he walked towards the door to the car. Shane hesitated a minute, then followed Rick out.

After Rick and Shane left, Merle turned back to Daryl. "Ya need to get it together Daryl. We gotta figure out how to get Nikki back."

TWD

"Alright you guys, bad news. We didn't get to grab as many supplies as I hoped when we went to Wal-Mart so we need to make another run. So lets pack up our shit and get moving." David said to Nicole and Ed.

Nicole swore to herself and started to panic. They couldn't leave. They had been staying here for three days and the group hadn't come out this way yet. The more they moved around, the less chance she had to get to the group. She did the only thing she could think of.

"I can't go. I'm sick. I've been throwing up all morning." Nicole told them.

"I don't care. Get your stuff packed and get your ass in the car." David told her.

Ed looked at David. "I'm not going with her if she's puking. It's not safe to pull over every five minutes to let her puke. That's too risky with walkers."

David sighed, slightly irritated. "Fine, you stay but Ed stays with you. I'll make the run myself." Nicole nodded.

Nicole was sitting on the ground outside the tent watching as David packed up a bag and threw it in his car. She made sure to get up a couple times to go throw up, making sure to actually throw up something incase she was being watched. David walked over to Ed and talked to him for a minute before walking over to Nicole. He kneeled down in front of her.

"I'm leaving. Ed is going to stay here and watch you. You had better be on your best behavior. Do you understand me?" David asked. Nicole nodded. "Good. I'll be back tomorrow before dark."

David got up and walked to his car. He got in and drove off, leaving Nicole alone with Ed.

TWD

"Daryl, we can't look anymore today. It's getting dark. Looking in the dark isn't going to do us any good. We have to go back to the warehouse. We'll be out again tomorrow." Rick said as he started driving back towards the warehouse.

"She's been missin' for three days. God knows what those two assholes are doin' to her. Ya can go back but I'm comin' back out. I ain't lettin' her stay out there any more. The longer it takes for us to find her, the less chance we have." Daryl finished saying quietly.

Merle reached up from the back seat and put his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "We'll find her. Ya found each other after almost ten years after the world ended and ya are gonna find her this time."

"First thing tomorrow morning, we'll pack enough supplies for a couple days and come back out. We'll stay out a few days so we can pick up where we left off and not have to start over the next morning. We'll have four of us go, two of us will continue were we left off and the other two will start the other direction. Cover more ground that way." Rick said.

Daryl nodded and stared out the window. Rick and Merle were still talking but Daryl wasn't paying attention. He was thinking about what he said before she left. He knew he was lying to her and to himself. He did need her with him, he wanted her with him. He wasn't fine without her and he knew that. He was a mess and if he didn't find her soon, he was going to completely lose it.

He closed his eyes and rested his head on the window. He didn't want Merle and Rick to know that he was silently praying. Usually he thought hoping and praying was a waste of time but he had never felt so desperate before. At least when she left him for college, he knew where she was and she wasn't in danger. This time was different. He was so afraid he was never going to find her and he was never going to be able to fix things with her. He promised himself things would be different if they found her. He would be different with her. He loved her and he was going to make damn sure nothing and no one would ever take her away again.

TWD

Nicole was sitting by the small fire she had built. She was silently thanking Daryl and Merle for teaching her all the survival tips that she thought were useless when she was 17. She would be freezing right now if she hadn't of learned to build a fire because Ed sure wasn't going to do it. He was sitting across from Nicole, glaring at her. He made it very clear that he had to play babysitter for the next day but she didn't care.

"Funny how you stopped puking when David left." Ed said to her.

Nicole smiled to herself. "I guess it wasn't that bad of a bug. Only lasted a few hours."

"You must think I'm stupid. I know you weren't really sick." Ed said.

"If you know I wasn't sick, then why did you go along with it?" Nicole asked him.

Ed grinned at her. "David says I'm never allowed to touch you. That your his girl. I guess Joe screwed that up for me. But guess what sweetheart? David's not here and what David doesn't know, won't hurt him."

Nicole looked up at Ed and narrowed her eyes at him. "If you ever touch me Ed, I swear to God I will gut you like the fucking pig that you are. And trust me, I know how. I spent a lot of time with the Dixon's before the world ended too. I learned a lot of things from the two of them and that happens to be one of them."

Ed stopped grinning and stood up. He put out the fire, grabbed Nicole's arm and dragged her to the tent. He released his grip once they were inside and he zipped the tent. He made sure to grab both his knife and her's and put them in his pocket opposite of where she was sleeping to make sure she couldn't get them. He put his gun next to him and went to sleep. He made sure to sleep by the tent's door so he would know if she woke up.

Nicole laid in her sleeping bag staring at the ceiling for a while before deciding Ed was sleeping. She crawled over to him and leaned over his body. She reached her hand very carefully into his pocket, trying not to wake him. Her heart was beating so hard and so fast, she thought it was going to burst. Her stomach was in knots and her hands were shaking. She pulled her hand back when Ed shifted, thinking she woke him. She sighed in relief when she realized he was still sleeping. She reached her hand slowly back into his pocket and smiled when she felt her knife. Slowly, carefully, she started pulling it out.

When she got the knife from Ed, she quickly made her way back to her sleeping bag and laid down. She kept a firm grip on her knife as she laid there. She wasn't going to sleep tonight, she couldn't risk it. If Ed woke up and noticed the knife was gone, she needed to be ready. Tomorrow, she was leaving David and Ed behind, this time for good.


	15. Chapter 15

_Thank you for all the adds. Starting to lack on reviews a little bit though. :( I'm so sorry it is taking me so long. Still not 100% back to normal. Made this chapter a little longer though for you. Thank you for being so patient with me. I hope you all like it._

**_Please review._**

As Rick promised, the next morning he got two groups together to search for Nicole. In one group was Rick, Shane, and Glenn and the other had Daryl and Merle. They each packed a bag and got in the car. Rick drove them all about half way to Wal-Mart. They figured that with the range of the walkie-talkies and Ed telling David everything that was going on, David was probably set up somewhere in between the warehouse and Wal-Mart.

The group got out of the car and Shane gave Daryl a walkie-talkie with Shane keeping the other. If one group found Nicole, they were to let the other group know immediately. They all grabbed their bags and Rick, Shane, and Glenn headed towards Wal-Mart and Daryl and Merle headed towards the warehouse.

TWD

Nicole had stayed awake all night in case Ed woke up. She couldn't risk losing her knife, she would never get it back again. He would make sure she didn't. When Ed finally did get up the next morning, Nicole was exhausted. He got out of his sleeping bag and stood up, kicking her leg to wake her.

"Get up bitch. Gotta make me something to eat." Ed said.

Nicole waited until Ed walked out of the tent before standing up and putting her knife in her pants pocket. She looked at her pocket to see if Ed would be able to notice the knife and smiled when she didn't see it. She knew he had his knife in his pocket still so he wouldn't suspect Nicole taking hers back.

Nicole walked out of the tent to see Ed sitting on a log in front of where a fire would be, if he wasn't too lazy to build one. She grabbed what she needed for a fire and got it started. Then she walked over to one of the bags by Ed to get food and two waters out of it. When she stood up, Ed was right behind her and his hand was on her ass.

"Ed, I told you what would happen if you touched me so if I was you, I would remove your hand from my ass." Nicole told him.

Ed laughed. "I'm not afraid of you. David and I took any weapons you had and I am twice your size. You're defenseless."

Nicole started to walk away from Ed but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. When she tried pulling away from him, he grabbed her by the waist and threw her on the ground, knocking the wind out of her. He sat on her legs and pinned both her hands above her head with one hand while he used his other hand to pull her shirt off and adjust her bra. She tried to fight Ed to get him off of her but he wasn't budging. When she was finally able to free one of her hands, Ed was quick to pin it down again with his free hand.

"It would be so much easier if you would stop fighting me. I don't want to hurt you but I will if I have to." Ed said.

Nicole glared at him. "When they kill you, I hope it is a very slow, painful death. I want to watch as you fight for your life."

Ed released one of Nicole's hands and slapped her. The pain from being hit immediately brought tears to her eyes but he did what she wanted, he let one of her hands free. As his hand went down to the button on her pants, he didn't even pay attention to her now free hand that was also moving to her pants. She quickly pulled the knife out of her pocket and flipped it open. She stabbed Ed in side with it which was the only place she could reach at the position she was in. She could feel his blood dripping on her stomach and though she hit him, she didn't have the effect on him she was hoping to. He did stop what he was doing and move off of her but due to the angle she was at, she only nicked him.

"You stupid bitch! Look what you just did!" Ed yelled at her.

Nicole sat up, knife still in hand. "I warned you Ed. I told you that you were going to get hurt and I won't hesitate to do it again."

Nicole knew Ed was mad, that was what she was counting on. If she tried to run now, he would be able to catch her. She needed him more injured or dead before she could leave. She no longer had the element of surprise so she wanted to piss him off so he would attack her again. What she wasn't counting on though was him pulling out his own knife. She raised her knife as he attacked her again. She shoved her knife as far as she could into his shoulder as his knife slashed at her chest, just above her left breast.

The amount of pain from Ed's knife was the worst thing she had ever felt. As soon as Ed fell off of her, she stood up and as quietly and quickly as she could, made her way into the woods. She didn't make it far before she heard Ed calling her and knew he wasn't far behind. She ducked down behind some bushes and waited for Ed to pass. She put her hand on her wound as she waited. When she pulled her hand away, it was covered in blood but not as bad as she thought it would be.

Nicole looked up when she heard a stick snap in front of her but she didn't see anyone. She ducked down behind the bush and prepared herself to run if she needed to. She slowly started backing up but stopped when someone put an arm around her waist and the other over her mouth. She immediately started struggling against the person holding her but their grip on her waist just tightened.

"Stop, stop, Nikki, it's me." Daryl whispered.

Nicole stopped moving and Daryl released his grip on her. She turned towards Daryl and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his chest and grabbing fistfulls of his jacket. He moved the two of them so they were hiding behind the bushes more. He sat them down and pulled her into his lap, still keeping an eye out for David or Ed. As soon as he saw Merle, Daryl signaled for him to come over. As Merle made his way over to them, Daryl took his jacket off and wrapped it around Nicole. He pulled her away to look at her.

"What the hell did they do to ya?" Merle asked Nicole quietly as he reached them. Nicole didn't say anything, she just stared at the ground.

Daryl lifted her face up to look at him. "Did they..." Daryl started, looking up and down Nicole who was sitting in her bra and still unbuttoned pants. Nicole shook her head.

"Not this time." She said making Daryl close his eyes and sigh in relief. He knew what she meant so he didn't have to ask. He figured she wouldn't want to talk about it anyway. He guessed David and Joe were doing more than she was letting on and this just confirmed it, which made Daryl want to kill David even more.

Merle continued to look around to make sure no one snuck up on them. "Where are David and Ed, Nikki?"

Nicole looked at Merle and shook her head. "David is gone. He went for supplies, he'll be back before nightfall. Ed is out here somewhere looking for me."

Daryl turned Nicole back to him. "We're gonna go find Ed. I need ya to stay here. Do ya still got Merle's knife?"

"No, Ed has it...sort of. Last I knew it was still in his shoulder." Nicole told them. Daryl pulled his knife out and held it out to her. "No. I'm not staying here. I want to go with you guys."

Daryl shook his head. "Ain't gonna happen. You're already injured, too dangerous. You're gonna wait here for one of us to come get ya."

"Like you said, I'm already injured and I'm tired so if walkers come or Ed finds me, I may not have enough strength or energy to defend myself. I'm not staying here alone." Nicole told them.

"She's right baby brother. Ain't safe for her to be alone, even if she was at her full strength." Merle said, making Daryl glare at him. "Now hold on, don' be gettin' mad just yet. I ain't sayin' she's goin' with us either. You're gonna stay here with Nicole, I'll find Ed. Me and him have unfinished business."

Before Daryl or Nicole could object, Merle was already gone. Daryl made sure his crossbow was ready to fire and set it and his knife beside him before pulling Nicole back into his lap. He started checking her over to see how bad her injuries were. Although the bruise on her face pissed him off, he wasn't as concerned about that as he was the cut on her chest. After looking it over, he reached in his bag and took out water, a rag, and gauze and tape he had packed.

"You're lucky, cut ain't that deep." Daryl said as he started cleaning and bandaging Nicole.

"I shouldn't have went on the supply run." Nicole said quietly. Daryl looked up at Nicole, who was staring at the ground, and sighed.

"No, ya shouldn' have but it ain't all your fault. If I didn' piss ya off, ya wouldn' have left." Daryl said. He looked around quickly to make sure they were still alone. "I shoulda told ya 'bout Brian...and we shouldn' have left David behind. I was just tryin' to protect ya."

Nicole looked at Daryl and shook her head. "You should have told me about Brian but I don't care that you left David."

Daryl looked at her, slightly confused. "But ya said..."

"I was mad about David but not because you left him. I was mad because you lied to me, twice. How am I suppose to trust you if you keep lying to me?" Nicole asked. Daryl finished taping up her bandages and then looked back up at her.

"You're right. I'm sorry. No more lies. I promise." Nicole smiled and kissed Daryl. The kiss was short lived though when Daryl pushed Nicole off of him and grabbed his crossbow. He aimed at the spot that he heard the footsteps, only to lower it when he realized it was Merle.

"Hey baby brother, ya expectin' someone?" Merle asked, nodding to the crossbow. Nicole looked at Merle who was covered in blood.

"You found Ed." Nicole said. Merle smiled at her.

"Yep. Don' gotta worry 'bout him no more. Now, let's go pay David a little visit." Merle said to Daryl and Nicole.

The three of them walked to where David had his camp set up. Once they determined it was still clear, they started going through the bags to find food and drinks while they waited for David to return. Daryl walked over to where Nicole's shirt was laying on the ground and picked it up. He walked back over and handed her the shirt, which she immediately put on.

"I'm tired, I didn't sleep at all last night so I'm going to go lay down for a bit." Nicole said as she headed towards the tent.

"Ya don' wanna go in that tent darlin'." Merle told her.

"Why not?" Nicole asked.

"Ed's in there." Merle said. Daryl looked up at Merle from his food and then looked at the tent. He stood up and walked over to the tent and looked inside. He quickly popped his head back out.

"Jesus Christ Merle! Did ya kill him or did a walker get him? There's blood and pieces of him all over in there." Daryl said.

"I told ya we don' gotta worry 'bout him no more." Merle said.

Daryl started a fire and sat down on the log next to Nicole. He pulled her to him, with her head resting on his chest and his arm around her shoulder. She fell asleep within minutes of laying her head down. Daryl had Merle radio the other group to let them know they found Nicole and where they were located. Nicole had mentioned that David had a car so they were hoping to be able to steal that and be back that night or at the latest first thing in the morning.

Daryl and Merle talked while they waited. After a few hours of waiting, they heard a car driving towards them. Daryl shook Nicole to wake her up and the three of them hid and watched as David got out of the car.

"Ed! Nicole! I'm back, get your asses out here." David called to them. When they didn't respond, David walked to the tent and opened it. "What the fuck!"

"Hey!" David turned around and saw Daryl standing there a second before Daryl hit him with the crossbow, knocking him out.

"Hey, hey baby brother. Ya got him! Now, what are we gonna do with him?" Merle asked.

"Don' know. Whatever it is though, I wanna make sure he suffers for everythin' he did to Nikki." Daryl said.

"Why don't we cut him up, tie him to a tree, and let the walkers have at him." Nicole said bitterly, laughing to herself.

Merle smiled. "Well now, don' that sound like a fun idea."

"What? I wasn't serious Merle." Nicole said. Merle looked at Daryl.

"What ya thinkin' Daryl?" Merle asked. Daryl looked at Nicole with an apologetic look.

"Man, I should know better than to open my mouth around you two. Never going to happen again." Nicole said.

"Oh darlin', all our best ideas come from ya. I never knew ya could think of stuff like that though. Always thought ya were too sweet for stuff like that." Merle said. Nicole laughed and rolled her eyes.

Daryl and Merle picked up David and carried him into the woods with Nicole following behind with a rope David had in one of the bags. Once they found a tree deep enough in the woods, Daryl held David to it while Merle tied him up. After he was tied, Merle walked over to Nicole.

"Daryl don' want ya to be a part of this. Come on, walk over here with me so ya don' gotta see it." Merle told her.

A few minutes later, Daryl walked over to Merle and Nicole. He wiped his knife blade in the grass and put it in its holder. Nicole could hear David yelling for Daryl to untie him. She moved to look around Daryl and saw David tied to the tree, blood dripping from his arms. Daryl groaned when he saw her looking and moved to block her. She shrugged.

"Just want to make sure he's gone this time." She said. Daryl nodded.

"Don' worry. If walkers don' get him, he'll die of blood loss. Made sure cuts are deep enough that he'll bleed out." Daryl said.

He started pulling Nicole away and they followed Merle back to the camp, leaving David in the woods. This time, Nicole knew she was leaving David for good.


	16. Chapter 16

_Hahaha. Glad everyone is happy about me killing off some characters. I was kind of happy to do it too. :) I'm thinking only one chapter left for this story. Don't worry though, another one is soon to come. If anyone has any ideas for a Daryl/OC pre-ZA story, let me know. Everyone did awesome last chapter with reviews. Keep it up to get that last chapter._

**_Please review._**

When they got back to camp, Daryl, Merle, and Nicole threw all the supplies David had in the back seat of David's car. Daryl wanted to go back to the warehouse to make sure they were all safe but Nicole and Merle had talked him out of this. Although Nicole wanted to go back and be in her own bed with Daryl, it was getting dark outside. It wasn't safe for them to be traveling at night. Nicole sighed as she watched Daryl pace around the camp, obviously frustrated with being stranded for the night.

"There are blankets and a pillow in the hatch of David's SUV. Lot's of room in there for the two of ya to sleep back there. I'll take watch tonight." Merle said as approached Nicole. Nicole looked at Merle and smiled.

"You have to be tired too Merle. It's not fair for you to take have to watch. We can split shifts." Nicole offered but Merle shook his head.

"I'm alright. Ya two haven' seen each other in days and honestly, ya look like shit. I don' know what all happened here but ya look like ya haven' slept at all since ya left the warehouse. I know Daryl ain't slept since ya left. Spent all day lookin' for ya and all night keepin' watch at the warehouse in case ya came back. Ya two need sleep." Merle said. Nicole smiled at Merle.

"Thanks Merle." Nicole said before walking over to Daryl. "Hey Daryl, come on. Let's go to bed."

Nicole grabbed Daryl's arm, pulling him towards the car. She opened the hatch and just as Merle said, there was a pillow and blankets laid out. Daryl waited for Nicole to get in first before climbing in after her. She laid down on the pillow as Daryl shut the door and put his crossbow down, leaning it on the back seat.

Daryl took off his jacket and laid down next to her, pulling the blankets with him and covering the two of them. He pulled her to him so they were face to face and put his arm around her waist. She smiled at him as she moved in for a kiss, immediately pushing her tongue in his mouth making him moan. He felt like he could kiss her forever. He never wanted to stop kissing her but he had to, for now at least. He had something he had to do first. He pulled away from her and reached into his pocket.

"I been thinkin' 'bout somethin'." Daryl started as Nicole ran her hand up and down his side.

"Oh yeah? About what?" She asked. Daryl took a deep breath and swallowed hard before he continued.

"I...I know that we can' ever make it official or nothin' but..." He couldn't finish what he wanted to say so he pulled his hand out of his pocket, putting what he pulled out in her hand. Her mouth fell open as she stared at the diamond ring he had placed in her hand. "It's just, after everythin' that happened in the last week, I wanna make sure nothin' like this happens again. I want everyone to know you're mine so no one ever tries to take ya away again."

Nicole sighed and closed her eyes. She wanted to wear Daryl's ring, even if they couldn't make it official, it would be real to them. She didn't want to wear it because he thought it would keep her safe though. "Daryl..."

Daryl took the ring from Nicole and moved his hands away from hers. He sat up, put his jacket back on, and grabbed his crossbow. Nicole sat up and took ahold of his arm.

"Daryl, wait." Nicole said. Daryl pulled away from her grip and opened the door, stepping outside.

"Ain't nothin' to wait for. It's alright. Was a stupid idea anyway." Daryl said as he shut the door, leaving Nicole alone. She laid down on her stomach, putting her face in the pillow as she cried.

Merle watched Daryl walk over to where he was keeping watch and sit down next to him. Merle continued to look out at the woods as he spoke to Daryl.

"Why ya out here? Shouldn' the two of ya be makin' up for lost time and all that other happy bullshit?" Daryl handed Merle the ring.

"She don' want it. I'm so stupid for thinkin' she would." Daryl said quietly. Merle finally looked over at him and shook his head.

"Man, you're stupid for a lot of things but not for that. I don' believe in all that love shit and even I know she loves ya. That girl would follow ya anywhere. She woulda done it in high school and she still would. She wouldn' leave ya and ya seem to be the only one who doesn' know that." Merle said.

Daryl and Merle were quiet for a while, just sitting and keeping watch together. Daryl enjoyed the quiet time as he thought. He knew Nicole wanted to be with him and he knew the reason he wanted her to wear the ring was not to keep her safe but he just couldn't bring himself to tell her. He wanted to tell her but he had been closed off from everyone, hiding what he was feeling for so long, he wasn't sure he could. Daryl never went back to the car that night. Instead, he slept sitting propped up on a tree by Merle.

The next morning, Nicole woke up alone. She hated that he was like this every time something didn't go the way he wanted. She decided she was going to go talk to him, even if he didn't want to hear it. She got out of the car and went to find Daryl, which didn't take long. He was sitting on the log, eating. She looked over at Merle who nodded at her and went to the car to get some sleep himself. Nicole walked over and sat down by Daryl, who didn't even look at her.

"Daryl, we need to talk." She said.

"Ain't nothin' to talk 'bout." Daryl told her as he ate.

"Daryl, stop. I didn't say no." Nicole said. Daryl lowered his hands from his mouth and looked down at them.

"Ya were gonna though. I know that look on ya. I 'member it. It was the same look ya gave me the night we..." Daryl stopped what he was saying and closed his eyes. He hated thinking about the night they broke up. He hated thinking of her leaving and the next nine years without her.

"You're right. I was going to say no but not for the reason you think. I love you Daryl, I really do but this can't keep happening. We can't be like this. I want it, I want to commit. I'm ready to but are you? We may not be able to have a wedding or get papers signed saying we're legally married but the ring is still important to me. If I put it on, I don't want to have to take it off. We're going to fight, couples do that but you cannot walk away from me. We need to be able to work things out. You need to tell me what you're thinking and what you're feeling. I need to know I'm wearing your ring for the right reason." Nicole told him.

Daryl didn't say anything, he just nodded. He waited until she stood up and started gathering up the rest of the supplies before he got up. She grabbed some food before throwing the bags in the car and getting in the passenger seat. Daryl got in the driver's seat, started the car, and started the drive back to the warehouse. Nicole and Daryl didn't say anything to each other the whole ride back. Neither one knew what to say.

When they pulled into the warehouse parking lot, everyone rushed out to see them. Nicole felt very uncomfortable as everyone hovered over her, asking her over and over again if she was okay and telling her how happy they were to see her. Nicole made her way through everyone to Carol and hugged her. She could see Carol was feeling guilty for her husband's actions and Nicole wanted to make sure Carol knew she didn't blame her nor was she mad at her. Nicole promised Carol they would have a girls night tomorrow but tonight, Nicole just wanted to rest. Carol smiled at Nicole and she looked like a weight had been lifted off her shoulder.

After having about as much as she could handle, she excused herself and went to her room. It had been days since her last shower and she couldn't wait to get one. She had stripped down to her bra and panties when Daryl walked in the room. He quietly closed the door and grabbed Nicole's arm, pulling her towards the bed. He sat her down and he sat down beside her.

"Daryl, I was just going to shower." Nicole said, standing up. Daryl reached for her hand.

"It can wait." Daryl said. Nicole nodded and sat back down. She waited for a minute for Daryl to talk but she wasn't prepared for what he had to say.


	17. Chapter 17

_Okay. This is the last chapter of this story. :( I will be posting a new one soon though. Already started on it. Also going to be updating the other two stories I have started. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and followed the story. **Even though this story is done, please review.**_

Daryl was looking down at his lap, where he still had ahold of Nicole's hand. He couldn't look at her, he wasn't sure he could say what he needed to if he looked at her.

"Ya know, after ya left, when ya didn' call me back, I was a mess." Daryl started.

"Daryl, we don't have to talk about this." Nicole said but Daryl ignored her. He needed to tell her.

"I drank, a lot. Did some drugs. Started smokin'. And was with a lot of...There were girls. None of them meant nothin', I made sure of that. Most were one night stands but had a few girlfriends and I treated all of them like shit. I did everythin' I could to be an asshole, to make them hate me. I cheated on every one of my girlfriends and called them every bad name I could think of. I did everythin' to keep my distance from them, from everyone. I couldn' get close to anyone after ya left. Couldn' stand the thought of gettin' hurt again." Daryl told Nicole.

Nicole was watching Daryl as he talked but he was still looking down at her hand. She could see his face even though he wasn't looking at her. He was breathing hard and his eyes were starting to water. She wasn't sure if it was from him reliving the past or fear of living in the present but she could tell he was fighting to not let any tears fall. Out of all the time that Nicole knew Daryl, he never cried. He never just broke down, at least not in front of her. She got up and moved to kneel down in front of him, looking into his eyes and that was all it took for him.

"Daryl, you can stop. Please." Nicole told him quietly. Her hand went to his face and wiped a tear that fell. Daryl shook his head.

"I never got over what happened but I learned to deal with it. I never talked 'bout ya, I couldn'. It was too hard. People started hatin' me. Really hatin' me too, not just the name. I became cold and hard. I didn' care 'bout no one else. I shut everyone out, even Merle. He tried everythin' to get through to me but he eventually just gave up. I was doin' fine on my own. I was fine, till ya came back with Merle.

At first I was happy to see ya, relieved ya were still alive but I didn' know what to do. I had no idea how to handle ya bein' back. Hell, apparently I still don'. I hate fightin' with ya and it kills me for ya to be mad at me. I can' promise to always be able to talk things out. I ain't good at talkin' 'bout feelings and all that shit, never was. I can promise not to walk away from ya though and not to say things I don' mean. I'll try to think 'bout what I'm sayin' before I say it. I almost lost ya twice cuz I was stupid. I don' ever wanna lose ya. I don' wanna ever hurt ya again." Daryl said, now looking in Nicole's eyes. Nicole stood up and and kissed him. When she pulled back, she rested her forehead on his and smiled.

"Good because I hate being mad at you. We were without each other for almost ten years. I don't want to spend our time together fighting." Nicole said.

Daryl looked up at Nicole and sighed. "I didn' want ya to wear that ring just to protect ya. I just couldn' tell ya the truth."

"And what is the truth?" Nicole asked him. Daryl stood up in front of Nicole and put his hands on her hips as he looked down at her.

"Truth is, I always wanted to marry ya." Daryl said.

"What?" Nicole whispered. She couldn't believe he said that. She didn't figure Daryl was the marrying kind of guy.

"Yeah. Ever since we were in school, I knew. I was also lookin' at places, apartments. I was gonna ask ya to live with me. I mean, I know we pretty much already lived together at your brother's house but I wanted it to be us. I wanted everything to be just us. I loved ya. I still do. I had to live without ya once, I really don' wanna do it again." Daryl said.

Nicole didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She knew about the drinking, drugs, and girls, Merle had told her already. It was all of the feelings that Daryl was talking about that left her speechless. She never knew Daryl even thought of living with someone or getting married. They were together all the time at Brian's but it was different. Daryl could come and go as he pleased. He was never tied down.

"Ain't ya gonna say somethin'?" Daryl asked after a few minutes.

Nicole shook her head. "Don't know what to say. I wasn't expecting you to be so open about everything."

"It's what ya want ain't it? Talk 'bout stuff that's botherin' us. Figured be good to know 'bout this stuff and good for me to talk 'bout it. Maybe it'll help us." Daryl told her.

"Yeah, I think it will. I love you, you know." Nicole said. Daryl nodded.

"I know. I...I love ya." He said.

"I know." Nicole said. She started walking backwards towards the bathroom, pulling him with her. He smiled as he followed her. "Come on Daryl, you need a shower. I can deal with you being dirty, it's kind of sexy. All of the blood on you though is where I draw the line."

When they got in the bathroom, Nicole pulled Daryl's shirt off and threw it on the floor. Daryl leaned in to kiss her, tangling his hands into her hair as he slipped his tongue in her mouth. She ran her hands down his chest to his pants and undid his button and zipper. He kicked his boots off as she pushed his pants and boxers down. He pulled away from her mouth and started planting kisses along her jaw to her neck. He reached around and unhooked her bra. Nicole sighed and moved her head to the side give Daryl more access as he pushed her bra strap off her shoulder, following it with his mouth. He started pulling her panties down before her bra even hit the floor.

Daryl moved his mouth back to Nicole's as he moved her towards the shower. Next thing she knew, her back was against the shower wall. Their mouths never broke apart as he reached to turn the shower on. Nicole jumped and squealed when the water hit her, making Daryl laugh.

"It's not funny Daryl, it's freezing." Nicole said as she laughed. "No one could get us hot water while I was gone."

"We were a little busy lookin' for ya. Don' worry, we'll make it a quick shower. Just gotta get all this blood off." Daryl said.

After grabbing the soap, Daryl ran it up Nicole's arm and across her chest. He stopped when he got to the bandage. Nicole brought her hand to it to cover it but Daryl moved her hand away and shook his head. He moved slightly so the water wasn't directly hitting her chest, afraid it would hurt her if it did. He continued to wash her, watching the dirt and blood wash down the drain. He kept his promise and made the shower as quick as possible. They washed each other as quickly, both wanting out of the freezing water.

Daryl was about to turn the water off when Nicole grabbed his hand stopping him. She pulled her to him and kissed him slowly, almost like she was trying to tease him. Her fingers ran through his hair with one hand while the other started stroking him. After a few minutes, he pulled her hand away and turned her so she was facing the shower wall with her hands on the wall. He bent his knees slightly as he entered her slowly. He grabbed onto her hips as he started thrusting into her, slowly and steadily. Nicole rested her head on the shower wall, moaning with every thrust. He kissed the back of her neck as he felt himself getting close. It didn't take either one of them long to reach their orgasm. Nicole screamed out Daryl's name when she orgasmed while he swore and his fingers dug into her hips when he came.

When Daryl came down from his orgasm, he reached over and turned the water off. He grabbed a towel that was sitting on the counter and wrapped it around Nicole before grabbing one for himself. They walked into the room after drying off and Daryl pulled Nicole into the bed. Daryl adjusted the blankets around the two of them and they both lay down, facing each other. He ran his fingers up and down her arm, making her smile and close her eyes.

"I was thinking." Nicole started.

"Shouldn' be thinkin', should be sleepin'. You're tired." Daryl told her. Nicole opened her eyes and stared at him. "Alright, what ya thinkin' 'bout?"

"I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't have told you no." Nicole said. Daryl's mouth fell open and he sat up.

"Ya...What?" He asked in shock. Nicole sat up.

"I still would like it if you don't walk away from me and I still want you to talk to me when we fight or if something bothers you but I shouldn't have told you no because of it. I love you and even though you don't always tell me, I know that you love me. I knew you still loved me the day that you kicked Joe's ass for me. We weren't even speaking and you still wanted to protect me. You have always put yourself before me, always been there when I needed you and I forgot that. All I thought about was what you don't do and that's nothing compared to what you do. I'm sorry. I know I must have really hurt you and I would give anything to take it back." Nicole said to Daryl, who was now smiling at her.

"Does that mean ya want it?" He asked. Nicole couldn't help but smile at him as she nodded. He jumped out of the bed to get the ring. He got back in bed and took Nicole's hand, putting the ring on her. "Ya know this means I ain't ever lettin' ya go right?"

Nicole kissed him. "Good because I'm not going anywhere."


End file.
